Giannis Antetokounmpo’s triple double sparked the Milwaukee Bucks to a 104-101 overtime victory at Toronto on Wednesday while the Brooklyn Nets saw their 12-game NBA win streak snapped.
Greek superstar Antetokounmpo scored 30 points, pulled down 21 rebounds and passed off 10 assists, the last to set up Grayson Allen’s decisive 3-pointer with 11 seconds to play, to rescue a Milwaukee triumph.
“You can’t do it by yourself. You’ve got to trust your teammates, make plays for them,” Antetokounmpo said.
“I’m trying to be aggressive… but at the end of the day everybody is sucking me in and the guy is open. That last play Grayson was wide open and I was able to get him the ball.”
It was the 31st career triple double for Antetokounmpo and the sixth time he managed 30 points and 20 rebounds in the same game — and his heroics came a night after scoring a career-high 55 points in a victory.
Antetokounmpo, who made 7 of 18 shots from the floor and 15 of 21 from the free throw line, was unhappy with a 28-7 Raptors run to close regulation time, Toronto tying the game at 97-97 on Gary Trent Jr’s last-second 3-pointer to force overtime.
“We can’t put ourselves in that position,” Antetokounmpo said. “We were up 15 with two minutes left. They came back, tied the game, sent it to overtime.
“But I think we did a good job keeping our composure and executing in the overtime — finding open spots and defending — and we were able to get the win.”
It came only after Fred VanVleet, who led Toronto with 28 points, missed a potential tying 3-pointer on the Raptors’ last shot.
DeMar DeRozan and Patrick Williams each scored 22 points and Nikola Vucevic added 21 points plus a game-high 13 rebounds to lead Chicago over Brooklyn 121-112.
The Bulls (17-21) snapped Brooklyn’s 12-game win streak when a victory would have pulled the visiting Nets (25-13) level for the Eastern Conference lead with Boston. Instead, they share second with the Bucks, one game behind the Celtics.
Chicago’s triumph spoiled a 44-point effort from Brooklyn’s Kevin Durant while Kyrie Irving added 25 points and Seth Curry had 22 off the bench.
Philadelphia’s James Harden had 26 points and eight assists while Tobias Harris, De’Anthony Melton and Montrezl Harrell each added 19 points to power the host 76ers over Indiana 129-126 in overtime.
The 76ers (23-14) were playing without star big man Joel Embiid due to a sore left foot but still snapped Indiana’s four-game win streak.
A Harris tip-in with six seconds to play lifted the Sixers level at 120-120 to force overtime. Harris made two free throws with four seconds remaining in the extra session to create the final margin.
Indiana’s Buddy Hield, who led the Pacers with 24 points, missed a 3-pointer at the closing buzzer.
– Cavs beat Suns –
Evan Mobley’s jumper with four seconds remaining gave Cleveland a 90-88 victory over Phoenix after Mikal Bridges missed for the visiting Suns at the final buzzer.
Caris LeVert led the Cavaliers with 21 points while Donovan Mitchell had 20 and nine assists. Chris Paul led Phoenix with 25 points while Deandre Ayton had 15 points and 18 rebounds.
Ja Morant scored 23 points and dished out eight rebounds to spark Memphis in a 131-107 romp at Charlotte.
Desmond Bane added 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Grizzlies while LaMelo Ball paced the Hornets with 23 points and 12 assists.
Anthony Edwards netted 32 points to power the Minnesota Timberwolves over visiting Portland 113-106. Damian Lillard led the Trail Blazers with 27 points.
C.J. McCollum scored 28 points and Jonas Valanciunas added 16 points and 17 rebounds to lead New Orleans over visiting Houston 119-108.
Jalen Brunson scored 38 points and Julius Randle added 25 points and 13 rebounds to spark host New York over San Antonio 117-114.
Paolo Banchero, last year’s NBA Draft top pick, had 25 points, eight rebounds and seven assists to lead host Orlando over Oklahoma City 126-115.
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