Giannis in solid form as Bucks shoot down Nets
ANGELES: Giannis Antetokounmpo scored a season-high 49 points in his return from an injury as the Milwaukee Bucks overcame Kevin Durant’s 42-point performance to beat the Brooklyn Nets 117-114.
Two-time reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Antetokounmpo, who had been dealing with a sprained right ankle, outduelled Durant in the Eastern Conference clash between the two highest-scoring teams in the league on Sunday.
Antetokounmpo finished just three points short of his career high, which he set two years ago against Philadelphia.
“Tonight that picture I created, that’s who I want to be moving forward,” said Antetokounmpo. “It doesn’t matter if I score 49 points. I don’t care about that.
“What I care about is how I slowed down, how I was able to find my teammates. How if I missed one, missed a second one, missed a third one and still be able to come down and shoot another one. This is what I believe I can be.”
Antetokounmpo shot 21-of-36 from the floor and added eight rebounds while teammate Khris Middleton finished with a double-double of 26 points and 11 rebounds.
Durant equaled a season-high 42 and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Eastern Conference-leading Nets, who are trying to hang onto first place during the final stretch of the regular season.
Antetokounmpo said he didn’t want to get into a scoring duel with Durant and just tried to focus on the strengths in his game.
“KD is one of the greatest scorers ever to play the game,” Antetokounmpo said. “If you try to go back and forth with him, he’s going to score 70. I was able to slow down and get to my spots. I kept being aggressive.”
The two teams play again on tonight in Milwaukee in a rivalry many see as a playoff preview.
Kyrie Irving scored 20 points and Landry Shamet tallied 17 for the Nets, who have won four of their past six games.
Elsewhere, Pascal Siakam and Kyle Lowry combined for 76 points as the Toronto Raptors kept their playoff hopes alive with a 121-114 win over the struggling Los Angeles Lakers, who saw superstar LeBron James exit in the fourth quarter.
In San Antonio, Ben Simmons made a game-winning tip-in at the buzzer and Joel Embiid scored 34 points and seized 12 rebounds as the Philadelphia 76ers defeated the San Antonio Spurs 113-111.