Greek star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo on Sunday scored 27 points, including the decisive tip-in with five seconds remaining, to give the Milwaukee Bucks a 104-102 playoff victory over Boston.
The triumph pulled the Bucks level with the Celtics at 2-2 in their best-of-seven first-round series, which continues today in Boston.
Malcolm Brogdon’s three-pointer gave the Bucks a 102-100 lead before Boston’s Al Horford made two free throws to equalize. Brogdon then missed a jumper, but Antetokounmpo followed with a tip-in in the final seconds.
Photo: EPA
“This win is incredible,” Antetokounmpo said. “We kept our composure and fought all the way to the end.”
Khris Middleton added 23 points, while Jabari Parker had 16 off the bench for Milwaukee.
SPURS 103, WARRIORS 90
Golden State failed to complete a sweep of the San Antonio Spurs, with Manu Ginobili coming off the bench to score 10 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter to spark the hosts over the Warriors 103-90.
“Our defense was more aggressive than the previous games. Our aggressiveness was off the charts,” Ginobili said. “We need to help each other. Today we did that.”
LaMarcus Aldridge had 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Spurs, who led from start to finish to trim Golden State’s lead in their Western Conference series to 3-1.
The Warriors, who were led by Kevin Durant’s 34 points and 13 rebounds, could advance to a second-round series against New Orleans with a Game 5 home victory today.
The Spurs remained without coach Gregg Popovich, who missed his second game following the death of his wife, which has left the team heartbroken as well.
“It’s a tough time. We’ve never been through this type of adversity,” Ginobili said.
CAVALIERS 104, PACERS 100
In Indiana, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers rebounded from a Game 3 loss to even their series at 2-2 with a 104-100 victory over the Indiana Pacers.
James finished with 32 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists, while Kyle Korver scored 18 points for the Cavaliers in the win.
Game 5 is tomorrow in Cleveland.
WIZARDS 106, RAPTORS 98
Bradley Beal scored 31 points and John Wall had 27, as the Washington Wizards beat the Toronto Raptors 106-98 to level their Eastern Conference series at 2-2.
Game 5 is tomorrow in Toronto.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite