Brogdon’s 3-pointers lift Bucks past Raptors
TORONTO— After playing a starring role down the stretch, Malcolm Brogdon called this Milwaukee’s best performance of the season.
Brogdon hit tying and go-ahead 3-pointers in the final 67 seconds and the Bucks held on to beat Toronto Raptors 104-99 on Sunday night.
Brogdon scored eight of his 18 points in the fourth quarter, Giannis Antetokounmpo had 19 points and matched a season high with 19 rebounds, and Brook Lopez had 19 points for the Bucks, the first team to beat Toronto twice this season.
“In terms of having a full game, playing hard on both ends and executing at a high level on both ends, executing the game plan, and then finishing strong down the stretch, that is definitely the top game for us,” Brogdon said.
The Bucks (17-8) bounced back from Friday’s loss to Golden State and have yet to lose consecutive games this season.
“That’s how special this team is,” Antetokounmpo said.
Serge Ibaka scored 22 points and Kawhi Leonard had 20 for the Raptors, who have lost two straight, the second time this season they’ve suffered consecutive defeats. Toronto, which lost 106-105 at Brooklyn on Friday, dropped three straight from Nov. 12 to 16, losing at home to New Orleans and Detroit before an overtime defeat at Boston.
Fred VanVleet scored a season-high 19 points and Pascal Siakam had 17 for the Raptors, whose 21-7 record is best in the NBA.
Neither Leonard (rest) nor Antetokounmpo (concussion protocol) played when the Raptors lost 124-109 at Milwaukee on Oct. 29, Toronto’s first defeat following a 6-0 start.
Toronto’s Kyle Lowry shot 0 for 5 and didn’t score for the first time since March 17, 2013 against Miami. Lowry led the Raptors with seven assists.
“Just couldn’t find the open ones tonight,” Lowry said. All of his misses Sunday were from 3-point range.
Milwaukee led 79-74 heading to the fourth and pushed its lead to 85-74.
Toronto battled back to lead 97-94 on a 3 by Leonard at 2:07, but Brogdon hit the tying 3 at 1:07 and followed with a go-ahead jumper with 40 seconds left.
“We did a great job trusting one another and moving the ball,” Antetokounmpo said. “Malcolm hit some huge shots.”
Middleton assisted on both of Brogdon’s key baskets and finished with five assists.
“I’m going to get the glory for the shots but Khris is the one who sacrificed and made the extra pass to get it to me,” Brogdon said.
VanVleet answered with a layup, but Antetokounmpo restored the 3-point cushion with a driving dunk.
Leonard hit the rim with a potential tying 3 and Ersan Ilyasova was fouled as he grabbed the rebound. Ilyasova sealed it by making both free throws with seven seconds remaining, and Toronto did not attempt another shot.
Milwaukee led 51-49 at halftime.
UP NEXT
Bucks: Host Cleveland on Monday night.
Raptors: Visit Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday night.
PELICANS 116, PISTONS 108
DETROIT—Alvin Gentry knew he needed Anthony Davis.
The New Orleans Pelicans coach didn’t get his star at 100 percent. It was still enough.
Davis left with a right hip injury after a first-quarter collision with Detroit Pistons star Blake Griffin and missed the rest of the first half.
When he came back early in the third quarter, he was moving slowly and only scored three points, matching the three he had before the injury. However, he also had five blocks and nine rebounds against Griffin and Andre Drummond to help the Pelicans win 116-108.
“Just having Anthony on the floor means everything,” Gentry said. “He might have been closer to 50 percent than 100 percent, but he was still giving us great defense and grabbing big rebounds.”
With Davis missing or ineffective on the offensive end, Jrue Holiday and Julius Randle took over. Holiday scored 37 points on 14-of-22 shooting and Randle added 28 points, six rebounds and five assists.
“We just executed our game plan,” Randle said. “Everything was coming extremely easily for Jrue and when he gets rolling, he doesn’t miss.”
Griffin scored 35 points for Detroit, Andre Drummond had 23 points and 19 rebounds, and Langston Galloway added a season-best 24.
“Even when Anthony is out, that’s a very solid team with a lot of weapons,” Griffin said. “We knew how we wanted to handle Jrue, but we didn’t execute.”
The Pistons have lost four straight.
“Jrue Holiday was a really tough challenge for Bruce (Brown) to handle by himself, and even when we sent Reggie (Jackson) over to help, he still had his way with us,” Pistons coach Dwane Casey said. “We are getting great looks on the other end, but we’ve got to knock them down.”
Drummond had 10 offensive rebounds for the 22nd time in his career—Tyson Chandler is second among active players with 15—but Gentry thought his defense did just enough against Detroit’s center.
“You can block him out on every shot, and he’s just going to go over you and get rebounds,” Gentry said. “I thought we got the big rebounds we needed down the stretch.”
Holiday had 18 points in the first half, and New Orleans led by 11 before the Pistons cut it to 56-50.
Davis returned at the first stoppage in the third quarter and helped the Pelicans take a 78-62 lead midway through the period. He was clearly limited on the offensive end but was able to get stops on defense.
Griffin and Galloway combined for 26 points in the period and had the Pistons within four points until Tim Frazier’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer made it 91-84 going to the fourth.
“We were getting a lot of stops late in the quarter, and that lets me get into transition and get my shots,” Galloway said. “We just needed to keep that going.”
Detroit quickly narrowed the gap to 93-91, but the Pelicans responded with a 7-1 run to take an eightpoint lead.
“I think we lead the NBA in wideopen shots, but we have to start knocking them down,” Griffin said.
Drummond missed two free throws with 4:03 left, then fouled Randle at the other end. He hit both shots to make it 107-98, and the Pelicans held on to win.
UP NEXT
Pelicans: At Boston on Monday night.
Pistons: At Philadelphia on Monday night.
HORNETS 119, KNICKS 107
NEW YORK—Kemba Walker scored 25 points and Jeremy Lamb added 19 as the Charlotte Hornets beat the New York Knicks 119-107 on Sunday night.
Tony Parker scored 16 points, Marvin Williams had 13 and Cody Zeller finished with 12 as Charlotte led by as many as 28 points in a game it never trailed.
Knicks rookie Kevin Knox tied a season high with 26 points and set a career high with 15 rebounds, while Tim Hardaway Jr. added 21 points.
Lamb’s layup with 8:50 left in the third quarter gave the Hornets their biggest lead at 77-49.
New York pulled within 18 on Knox’s 3-pointer before Walker’s long 3 pushed the lead to 99-78 heading to the fourth.
The Knicks opened the fourth with a 7-0 run to pull within 14 on Frank Ntilikina’s jumper with 10:47 remaining. However, the Hornets scored the next 12 points to put the game out of reach.
During that run, Ntilikina, who finished with 18 points—all in the second half—fouled out with nine minutes left and Knicks coach David Fizdale was accessed two technical fouls and ejected with 8:33 remaining.
Zeller scored 10 points in the first quarter as the Hornets opened up a pair of seven-point leads. Parker came off the bench to score eight and Charlotte led 27-24 after the first 12 minutes.
The Hornets opened the second quarter on a 7-0 run, but the Knicks responded by scoring the next six points to pull to 34-30. The Hornets followed with an 18-4 stretch to take an 18-point lead.
New York closed within 10 by scoring the next eight points, but the Hornets went on to lead 61-47 at halftime.
Damyean Dotson added 12 points for the Knicks, who have lost four straight.
UP NEXT
Hornets: Host Detroit on Wednesday night.
Knicks: At Cleveland on Wednesday night.