NBA

Antetokounmpo has 33 and 13 in Bucks' win over West-leading Timberwolves

By Sports Desk February 24, 2024

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 33 points and grabbed 13 rebounds as the Milwaukee Bucks held off the West-leading Minnesota Timberwolves 112-107 on Friday in a matchup of NBA heavyweights.

Damian Lillard had 21 points, 10 assists and a season-high nine rebounds and Malik Beasley scored all 14 of his points in the third quarter as the Bucks improved to 4-10 under new coach Doc Rivers.

Anthony Edwards scored 28 points and hit three 3-pointers in the final two minutes to draw the Wolves within 110-107 with 31 seconds left, but Lillard’s long jumper 22 seconds later sealed the win.

Karl-Anthony Towns had 22 points with 14 rebounds and Rudy Gobert added 12 points and 19 boards for Minnesota, which had a four-game winning streak snapped.

Butler among 4 ejected in Heat’s win

Jimmy Butler was one of four players ejected after a fourth-quarter scuffle and the Miami Heat held off the New Orleans Pelicans, 106-95.

Butler had 23 points and nine rebounds and Bam Adebayo added 24 points for Miami, which snapped New Orleans’ four-game winning streak and made it seven consecutive wins over the Pelicans.

Also ejected for the melee were Heat reserve Thomas Bryant and Jose Alvarado and Naji Marshall of the Pelicans.

Herb Jones scored 19 points and Jonas Valanciunas had 12 with 10 rebounds for New Orleans, which couldn’t overcome 37.5 percent shooting, including 7 of 32 from 3-point range.

Maxey leads 76ers over Cavaliers

Tyrese Maxey scored 24 points and Cam Payne added 16 off the bench to propel the Philadelphia 76ers to a 104-97 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Maxey came alive in the fourth quarter, scoring 15 of the Sixers’ final 20 points and assisted on a 3-pointer by Buddy Hield that put Philadelphia up by eight in the final minute.

Maxey was the only Sixer to make more than one basket in the fourth quarter and also added four rebounds and two assists.

Jarrett Allen had 24 points and Darius Garland added 20 and nine assists, but Cleveland had a six-game road winning streak stopped while losing for the third time in four games overall.

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    Embiid and Davis have both been suffering from illness in recent days while Durant – Team USA's all-time record points scorer at the Olympics – missed their five warm-up games with a calf injury.

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    "I'm confident we'll have everybody ready," Kerr said on Saturday.

    Asked specifically about Durant's condition, Kerr added: "Hopefully he'll play. 

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    The USA did beat Serbia 105-79 in an exhibition game in Abu Dhabi earlier this month, also overcoming Jokic and company in the gold medal match at Rio 2016.

    The Denver Nuggets star averaged 26.4 points through 79 regular season games in 2023-24, only managing more in his second MVP campaign in 2021-22 (27.1).

    Los Angeles Lakers forward Davis is wary of the threat he will pose to the USA's chances of starting with a win, as they target a fifth straight gold in the men's basketball competition.

    "Jokic, with what he's able to do, obviously we know what he does in the NBA, but maybe he'll get a little bit higher usage in the international game," Davis said. "It's going to be fun."

    The NBA's all-time leading scorer LeBron James, who helped his country win gold at Beijing 2008 and London 2012, is aware a fast start to their campaign could make all the difference.

    "This is not like the NBA, where it's a marathon," James said. "This is a sprint. 

    "This is a Michael Johnson or Usain Bolt-type game. The real thing starts tomorrow, so we need to be ready to go, which we will be."

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