WASHINGTON: Greece’s Giannis Antetokounmpo capped a 27-point performance on a three-point play with 5.9 seconds remaining on Tuesday to spark the Milwaukee Bucks over visiting Cleveland 119-116 in an NBA thriller.
The Cavaliers were led by 39 points from LeBron James as Cleveland made a furious fourth-quarter rally only to fall short at Milwaukee’s Bradley Center.
The Bucks (16-13) snapped a three-game losing streak overall and had dropped their past five meetings with Cleveland, which used a 24-2 run to battle back. Dwyane Wade had 14 points and Jeff Green 13 but each had nine in the fourth quarter.
Eric Bledsoe added 16 points for Milwaukee, which trailed 113-112 after James scored six points in a row late in the fourth quarter.
Milwaukee’s Tony Snell followed with a 3-pointer and Antetokounmpo added a 3-point play to help deliver the victory.
“You’ve got to play to the last minute. I got the ball in my hands and I was able to do it,” the Green standout said.
“We wanted to play tough defensively and move the ball offensively. That’s what we did and that’s why we got the win.”
Australian guard Matthew Dellavedova returned to Milwaukee’s starting lineup after missing 15 games with left knee tendinitis.
Sacramento forward Zach Randolph took advantage of the absence of Philadelphia scoring and rebound leader Joel Embiid to produce 27 points as the visiting Kings rallied to defeat the 76ers 101-96.
The Sixers fell to 14-16 and 1-6 without Embiid, who is struggling with a sore lower back.
Sacramento’s Buddy Hield scored 10 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter for the Kings, who erased a 16-point third-quarter deficit to end a two-game losing streak.
Robert Covington scored 17 points to lead the Sixers, who lost their third in a row and seventh in eight games. Jerryd Bayless added 15 points for Philadelphia while Australian Ben Simmons had 13 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists.
Bradley Beal scored 26 points and Mike Scott added 24 to power the Washington Wizards over visiting New Orleans 116-106. John Wall added 18 points and 10 assists for the Wizards while Anthony Davis led the Pelicans with a game-high 37 points.
Curry to miss Cavs tie
Two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry will miss Monday’s Christmas Day NBA showdown against Cleveland because of a nagging right ankle sprain, defending champions Golden State Warriors said on Tuesday.
Curry has helped spark the Warriors to titles over Cleveland in two of the past three NBA Finals and lost a third to the Cavaliers last year in seven games.
Averaging 26.3 points, 6.6 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 1.7 steals a game, Curry suffered the injury on December 4 at New Orleans and was re-evaluated Tuesday by Golden State’s medical staff and found to be healing well and making good overall progress, according to a team statement.
But while the Warriors advanced Curry to modified on-court workouts in the coming days, the team also said the 29-year-old guard would be reevaluated next Tuesday with more certainty expected then on a timetable for his NBA game return.
Golden State (24-6) has won nine games in a row, five of them without Curry. Only the Houston Rockets (25-4) have a better record among NBA clubs. — AFP
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