Bucks clinch a narrow victory against Raptors
Los Angeles, Feb. 24: The Milwaukee Bucks turned the tables on Eastern Conference leaders Toronto on Friday, winning 122-119 in overtime to snap the Raptors’ seven-game NBA winning streak.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 26 points and pulled down 12 rebounds for the Bucks.
Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas slammed down a dunk at the buzzer in regulation to send the game to overtime.
But the Bucks, with 21 points apiece from Eric Bledsoe and Khris Middleton, emerged with the victory over a Raptors team that had won 15 of their 17 prior encounters.
“You’ve got to understand, this team sent us home last year,” Bucks guard Jason Terry said in a halftime television interview adding, “This game is personal. This is a pride thing.”
Toronto and Milwaukee also went to overtime on January 1, when DeMar DeRozan set a Toronto franchise record with 52 points in the Raptors’ 131127 victory.
It looked like they would pull it off again when Toronto scored the first five points of overtime, but successive three-pointers by Terry and Middleton capped an 8-0 Bucks scoring run that gave Milwaukee a 118-115 lead with 1:58 remaining and they wouldn’t fall behind again.
The Raptors suffered their first home defeat since falling January 26 to Utah. But they remained one game ahead of the Boston Celtics atop the East.
The Celtics returned from the All-Star break with a 110-98 victory over the Pistons in Detroit.
The Celtics were hurting heading into the break, losing three straight and four of five to fall two games behind the Raptors for the Eastern Conference lead.
It appeared the break, and the return of guard Marcus Smart, who missed 11 games after cutting his hand punching a glass picture frame, were just what the Celtics needed.
Leading 77-73 with 2:47 left in the third quarter, Boston mounted a 22-6 scoring run to seize control, limiting the Pistons to three field goals in the span.
Western Conference leaders Houston notched their 11th straight victory as James Harden scored 31 points in a 120-102 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The defeat was even more bitter for the Timberwolves, who lost All-Star Jimmy Butler to an apparent right knee injury late in the third quarter. — AFP