NBA: Giannis powers Bucks to victory
Giannis Antetokounmpo connected on 17 of 24 shots from the field
Los Angeles: Milwaukee’s two-time reigning Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo poured in 43 points Monday, powering the Bucks to a 125-115 NBA victory over the Detroit Pistons.
Antetokounmpo connected on 17 of 24 shots from the field. He made a brace of three pointers and was simply unstoppable in the paint. His was just one of the outstanding performances on a night that featured a 40-point outburst from Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum and a triple-double for Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks.
Boston’s Tatum scored 21 of his season-best 40 in the second quarter as the Celtics rallied from an early deficit to beat the Toronto Raptors 126-114. Tatum connected on 11 of 19 shots from the field and was a perfect 13-for-13 from the free throw line as he fell one point shy of matching his career best.
Donic returned with a vengeance with 33 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists as Dallas held off a late Rockets push for a 113-100 victory. The Slovenian star, still just 21, notched his 26th career triple-double. Tim Hardway Jr. added 30 points off the bench for Dallas, who led by as many as 16 in the third quarter.
The Philadelphia 76ers improved their league-leading record to 6-1 with a 118-101 victory over the Charlotte Hornets. Tobias Harris scored 22 points to lead seven Sixers players in double figures in the wire-to-wire win.
New York’s Julius Randle scored 28 points and pulled down 17 rebounds and Austin Rivers drilled a late three-pointer that helped the Knicks erase a 15-point third-quarter deficit in a 113-108 victory over the Hawks in Atlanta.
In a back-and-forth battle, the Knicks seized an early double-digit lead only for Atlanta to take a four-point lead into halftime. The Hawks pushed their lead to 15 with less than five minutes left in the third, but they couldn’t hang on.
Indiana’s Malcolm Brogdon delivered the game-winner as the Pacers broke the New Orleans Pelicans’ hearts 118-116 in overtime, having rallied from six points down with less than a minute remaining in regulation.
There was no such drama for Golden State as Stephen Curry followed up Sunday’s 62-point outburst with 30 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in the Warriors’ 137-106 romp over the Sacramento Kings.
