Antetokounmpo delivers for Bucks in overtime triumph
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 10 of his 32 points in overtime to lead the visiting Milwaukee Bucks to a 109-105 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night in a matchup of two of the Eastern Conference’s best teams.
With P.J. Tucker reportedly headed to Milwaukee in a trade with Houston, Donte DiVincenzo scored 20 points and Jrue Holiday added 19 for the Bucks, who have won five in a row and 10 of 11.
Tucker did not play Wednesday for the Rockets, and neither did Milwaukee’s D.J. Augustin and D.J. Wilson, who according to ESPN are heading to Houston in the trade.
Tobias Harris scored 19 points for Philadelphia, which had its six-game winning streak snapped. Philadelphia All-Star Joel Embiid sat for the third straight game with a bruised left knee.
NETS 124, PACERS 115 >> James Harden had 40 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds for his 11th triple-double of the season to lead visiting Brooklyn, which was playing without fellow All-Stars Kyrie Irving (groin) and Kevin Durant (hamstring) and newcomer Blake Griffin (knee).
Harden hit a runner in the lane to tie it at 96 early in the fourth quarter and start a 13-4 run.
Malcolm Brogden led Indiana with 24 points, and Domantas Sabonis had 18 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists.
PISTONS 116, RAPTORS 112 >> Saddiq Bey had 28 points and 12 rebounds, and Detroit overcame Norman Powell’s 43 points to end a four-game skid.
KINGS 121, WIZARDS 119 >> De’Aaron Fox scored 28 points and hit a jumper over Bradley Beal with 0.7 seconds remaining to lift Sacramento to victory.
Russell Westbrook had 26 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists for Washington.
HEAT DEAL LEONARD FOR ARIZA >> The Miami Heat traded Meyers Leonard and a 2027 second-round draft pick to the Oklahoma
City Thunder for Trevor Ariza.
The Thunder have no plans to keep Leonard, and may either trade him in the coming days or simply elect to not pick up his $10.2 million option for next season. He is unable to play the rest of this season because of a shoulder injury.
Leonard has been away from the Heat after a video surfaced of him using an anti-Semitic slur while livestreaming the playing of a video game. He apologized for the incident, which was roundly criticized by the Heat, Jewish groups and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver — who fined Leonard $50,000 and barred him from being around the Heat for one week.
The Heat add wing depth with Ariza — who was part of three trades in November and ended up with Oklahoma City, though he never played for the team.
Ariza is about to make the Heat his 10th team in 17 seasons.