The Milwaukee Bucks, fueled by 41 points from Giannis Antetokounmpo, launched their NBA Cup title defense with a 126-110 victory over Eastern Conference leaders the Chicago Bulls on Friday.
Two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Antetokounmpo added 15 rebounds, nine assists, two steals and a pair of blocked shots, scoring 19 points in the fourth quarter as the Bucks pulled away.
The Greek star’s latest big performance — he came into the contest averaging 32.3 points per game — helped Milwaukee halt a two-game skid.
Photo: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images
Matas Buzelis led the Bulls’ scoring with 20 points, and Aussie guard Josh Giddey — coming off back-to-back triple-doubles — had 16 points, seven rebounds and 14 assists.
However, the Bulls surrendered top spot in the East to the Detroit Pistons, who topped the Brooklyn Nets 125-107 for a fifth straight win behind 34 points from Cade Cunningham.
Friday marked the second night of group play in the league’s in-season tournament, in its third edition this year.
Photo: Getty Images via AFP
All 30 teams were drawn into six five-team groups for round-robin matches that also count in the regular-season standings.
Eight teams would advance to the Cup quarter-finals on Dec. 9-10, with the last four going to Las Vegas for semi-finals on Dec. 13 and the championship game on Dec. 16.
Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs halted their two-game slide with a 121-110 victory over Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets.
Harrison Barnes scored 24 points, while Wembanyama and Julian Champagnie added 22 apiece for San Antonio, Wembanyama finding a way after he was limited to just four points in the first half.
Alperen Sengun scored 25 points with nine rebounds and eight assists, and two-time NBA champion Durant added 24 points for the Rockets, who got off to a hot start and led by as many as 11 in the first half.
The Spurs closed the first half on a 12-0 run to lead 51-50 at the break and were in control for most of the second half as they denied the Rockets a sixth straight victory.
“We knew it was going to be a fight right away,” Wembanyama said. “Did a good job on Steven Adams, one of the best offensive rebounders in the league. It was just relentless.”
The Oklahoma City Thunder, the reigning NBA champions and runners-up to the Bucks in the Cup last season, cruised to a 132-101 victory over the Kings in Sacramento, California.
Isaiah Hartenstein scored 33 points and grabbed 19 rebounds and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 30 points for the Thunder, who bounced back emphatically from their first defeat of the season.
Denver star Nikola Jokic scored 26 points, pulled down nine rebounds and handed out nine assists as the Nuggets rolled to a 129-104 victory over a Golden State Warriors team missing an ailing Stephen Curry.
The Minnesota Timberwolves launched their Cup campaign with a crushing 137-97 victory over the Utah Jazz.
Wolves star Anthony Edwards, playing his second game after missing four with a hamstring strain, scored 37 points, while Julius Randle delivered a triple-double of 19 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists in the wire-to-wire triumph.
The Cleveland Cavaliers trounced the floundering Wizards 148-114 in Washington.
Donovan Mitchell led a balanced Cavs attack with 24 points. Darius Garland added 20 and Evan Mobley had 18 as seven Cleveland players scored in double figures.
The Memphis Grizzlies, with 21 points each from Ja Morant and Cedric Coward, built a big early lead on the way to a 118-104 victory over the reeling Dallas Mavericks.
It was a morale-boosting victory for a Grizzlies team that had dropped four straight amid tension between Morant and the coaching staff.
The Miami Heat erupted for a franchise record 53 points in the first quarter on the way to a 126-108 victory over the Charlotte Hornets.
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