Milwaukee Bucks of America’s Nigerian-born star, Giannis Adetokunbo (Antetokounmpo) was again at his best in action with the National Basketball Association (NBA) outfit, as he hit what turned out to be ‘dunk of the night’ in his team’s return to winning ways some 72 hours after he failed to save them from defeat by Houston Rockets.
Megasportsarena.com reports that the Greece international and current NBA most valuable player, fondly called ‘The Greek Freak,’ was on top of his game Thursday night, as he led The Bucs back to winning ways against Miami Heat to atone for his struggles in their dramatic loss to Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday.
Antetokounmpo led the way for The Bucks with 33 points, 12 rebounds and four assists, but missed all four of this 3-point attempts, even as he connected each of his 13 field goal attempts inside the arc and highlighted a 38-11 fourth-quarter run with a span of three dunks in four runs of possession, including this nifty spin move past fellow-Nigerian-born star, Bam Adebayo.
The Heat caught fire from deep and raced out to a 63-40 second-quarter lead, threatening to send The Bucks to a second-straight bubble loss, this time at full strength, but a 20-plus point lead against an elite team was not safe.
The Bucks rallied with a huge second half to roll the Heat, 130-116 and clinch the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, they staved off headlines speculating about bubble problems for the East’s best team in the process and Khris Middleton joined Antetokounmpo in the surge by contributing 33 points along with eight assists and six rebounds.
The Bucks’ 74-43 outburst in the second half was a prime example of the combined offensive firepower and defensive prowess that makes them a favorite to win a championship, as they clinched No. 1 seed and improved to 55-14 with the win, five games better than the second-place Toronto Raptors with four games remaining before the playoffs.
It was a welcome change to the setback that happened for Antetokounmpo at the start of this week, when the 36 points he netted were not enough to save his side, as The Rockets powered to a 120-116 victory over The Bucks, who tasted defeat for only the 12th time this season.
While Antetokounmpo looked worn out and nursing some pain, a series of late fouls proved so pivotal for the opponents at a point The Bucks were up at 116-115 with just over 20 seconds to play.
A Khris Middleton shooting foul allowed Russell Westbrook to shoot two free throws, then Kyle Korver’s infringement saw Danuel House Jr head to the line to give Rockets a three point lead; following which James Harden, who scored 24 on the night, added one in the last second for the victory, in which Houston’s top scorer was Westbrook on 31 points and eight assists.
In other games, Brooklyn Nets bolstered their chances of a post-season spot with a 118-110 win over Washington Wizards; which kept the winning side eighth in the Eastern Conference, while a second defeat on the bounce saw the losers stay ninth and need to make up three games out of their remaining six to remain in contention for the play-offs.
Joe Harris scored 27 for Brooklyn, while Caris LeVert proved pivotal in the dying minutes of the game, scoring a lay-up with 5:08 on the clock to break a 100-100 tie and adding 12 more before the final buzzer.
Similarly, the battle for Western Conference spots is also still open, after eighth-placed Memphis Grizzlies were downed by ninth-placed San Antonio Spurs 108-106, as DeMar DeRozan hit two free throws with a second left.
The following day in ‘The Bubble’ at Disney World in Orlando, Florida, USA, Jayson Tatum got 34 points to help Boston Celtics see off Portland Trail Blazers 128-124, while Orlando Magic swept past Sacramento Kings 132-116 and Phoenix Suns toiled to a 117-115 win over Dallas Mavericks and Brooklyn Nets got a shock 119-116 victory over Milwaukee, as the Bucks were forced to wait in their bid to clinch the Eastern Conference.
The two sides were fairly evenly matched, as seventh place took on first in the conference, but back-to-back three-pointers from Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot within 30 seconds helped The Nets eke out a five-point lead with 2:30 to go.
Luwawu-Cabarrot had 26 points on the night while Antetokounmpo played only 16 minutes was limited to 16 points; while other high seeds that fell to lower opposition on Tuesday included Los Angeles Clippers, who went down 117-115 to Phoenix Suns, as Devin Booker proved to be the difference, with a buzzer beater as time expired accounting for two of his 35 points.
Same day, Houston Rockets lost 110-102 to Portland Trail Blazers, Miami Heat saw off Boston Celtics 112-106 and Indiana Pacers defeated Orlando Magic 120-109; while Dallas Mavericks boost their play-off hopes and dent those of Sacramento Kings with a 114-110 overtime win.
Masai Ujuri’s reigning champions, Toronto Raptors, who are closing in on securing second seed in the East, made it seven wins in a row with a 109-99 victory over Orlando Magic, while Celtics stayed third in the conference when they swept past Brooklyn Nets 149-115.
