Lillard’s 45 spark Bucks to win, Embiid’s 33 lift 76ers
Damian Lillard scored a season-high 45 points and Giannis Antetokounmpo added 31 to lead the Milwaukee Bucks over NBA doormat Detroit 141-135 on Saturday.
Lillard, who arrived from Portland in a pre-season trade, had 11 assists and made 12-of-22 shots from the floor, 5-of-11 from 3-point range, and hit all 16 of his free throw attempts.
“When the game started, I felt like I had a good warm-up, a good rhythm to the game,” Lillard said. “Saw a couple shots go in and I just felt good.”
Lillard became the first player in Bucks history with 40 or more points, 10 or more assists and five 3-pointers in a single game and did so three nights after Milwaukee was thumped 135-95 at Cleveland.
“I knew it was an important game. I picked my spots. I moved the ball when I needed to move it. I attacked when I needed to attack,” Lillard said.
“I’ve been slowly getting back to how I play more naturally and tonight was one of those nights.”
Greek star Antetokounmpo added 10 rebounds, nine assists, two steals and a blocked shot for visiting Milwaukee, which improved to 29-13, three games behind Boston for the Eastern Conference lead.
Alec Burks scored 33 points off the bench, hitting 7-of-14 3-point shots, to lead Detroit, which fell to a league-worst 4-38.
Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid had his 20th consecutive game since mid-November with at least 30 points, scoring 33 while grabbing 10 rebounds for Philadelphia in a 97-89 victory at Charlotte.
The Cameroonian star sank 11-of-23 shots from the floor and 11-of-12 from the free throw line with five assists and three blocked shots for the 76ers.
Miles Bridges led the Hornets with 25 points and 11 rebounds.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a game-high 33 points to power the Oklahoma City Thunder over Minnesota 102-97, lifting the visitors (29-13) within a game of the host Timberwolves (30-12) for the Western Conference lead.
An “SGA” 3-pointer with 74 seconds remaining gave the Thunder a 96-94 lead. Rudy Gobert sank a free throw for Minnesota but Jalen Williams made four free throws in the final 15 seconds to seal Oklahoma City’s victory.
Jalen Brunson scored a gamehigh 38 points while Julius Randle added a triple double with 18 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists to lead the host New York Knicks over Toronto 126-100.
French rookie star Victor Wembanyama scored a gamehigh 24 points, pulled down eight rebounds, blocked six shots and passed off four assists to spark the San Antonio Spurs over host Washington 131-127.
The 20-year-old, 7-foot-4 (2.24m) centre was the top pick in last year’s NBA Draft and his seven points led a closing 22-6 run over the final five minutes by the Spurs (8-34) to defeat the Wizards (7-34) in a matchup of the NBA’s second- and thirdworst clubs.
“His whole game was fantastic,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said of Wembanyama. “His rebounding, his shot – it ain’t pretty but it goes in more than most of our guys. He does a hell of a job in a lot of ways at both ends of the court.”