FREAK OUT? NO PROBLEM AS BUCKS GUT OUT WIN TO BECOME LAST UNDEFEATED SQUAD
MILWAUKEE— No Giannis Antetokounmpo, no problem for the Milwaukee Bucks.
With the way they’re shooting from the 3-point line, the Bucks look like they can beat just about anybody in the NBA.
Ersan Ilyasova scored a season-high 19 points and the Bucks cruised without the injured Antetokounmpo to beat the Toronto Raptors 124-109 on Monday night in a showdown of the NBA’s last undefeated teams.
Milwaukee improved to 7-0 in a marquee matchup that lost some luster with “Greek Freak” Antetokounmpo in concussion protocol and Raptors star Kawhi Leonard sitting out to rest.
The Bucks’ start to the season matches the 1971-72 club for best in franchise history. Milwaukee made up for Antetokounmpo’s absence with another strong showing from the perimeter, with Malcolm Brogdon and Eric Bledsoe chipping in 17 points each.
“Of course we have more confidence when (Antetokounmpo) is on the floor,” Brogdon said. “But we have a lot of confidence even when he’s not on the floor due to the system and due to the confidence that (coach Mike Budenholzer) gives us.”
Serge Ibaka scored 30 points for Toronto, which had its franchise-best 6-0 start snapped. Pascal Siakam added 22.
In Denver, the Nuggets were out of sorts at times on offense—until it really mattered. They looked lethargic on de- fense—until it really, really mattered.
Then, they rose to the occasion. More specifically, Gary Harris did.
Harris scored nine of his 23 points in the fourth quarter and came up with a big steal late to help the Nuggets hold off the short-handed New Orleans Pelicans, 116-111, after nearly squandering an 18-point lead.
The Nuggets are 5-1 despite feeling like they’ve yet to find their rhythm. That’s encouraging to Harris.
“There’s a different vibe around the team,” Harris said. “Everybody can feel it. The defense could’ve been better tonight. But we keep getting these wins. That’s the point of it all—the wins.”
Jamal Murray chipped in 23 points and Nikola Jokic had 12 points and 10 assists for his fifth double-double in six games.
In Minneapolis, after a lethargic loss in their last game, the Minnesota Timberwolves came to life.
LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers served as their spark plug.
Jimmy Butler hit five of Minnesota’s eight 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to finish with 32 points on 12-for-20 shooting and help the Timberwolves hang on to beat the Lakers, 124120, on Monday.
“They were playing fast, which made us play with a lot of energy, so I guess their energy kind of helped ours,” Butler said.
Karl-Anthony Towns pitched in 25 points, a seasonhigh 16 rebounds and four blocks for the Timberwolves (34), who played some clutch defense just in time to fend off a late push from James. The fourtime MVP had 10 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter after missing his first five shots of the night, but the Lakers (2-5) went back to Los Angeles with another uneven performance.
“We’ve got to get better. We know that. We talk about patience, but we can’t have reoccurrence of doing the same things over and over and over again and expecting a different result,” said James, who added 10 rebounds and seven assists on the 15th anniversary of his professional debut. “That’s insanity.”