Bucks just slip past Celtics
Antetokounmpo scores 12 in fourth to lift Milwaukee
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 12 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter, Khris Middleton hit a 3-pointer in the closing seconds and the Nbaleading Milwaukee Bucks held off the Boston Celtics 98-97 on Thursday night.
On the second-to-last possession, Marcus Smart forced a jump ball with Antetokounmpo. Antetokounmpo tipped the jump to Brook Lopez, who deflected it toward the basket, but missed as the shot clock expired.
The referees huddled during the timeout and put 3.5 seconds on the clock for the Celtics.
Smart inbounded the ball over the towering Lopez and dropped a pass into Kyrie Irving’s hands at the top of the key. With Eric Bledsoe draped all over him, Irving drove the lane, seemed to stumble and missed an awkward shot as time expired.
Trail Blazers 113, Nets 99: Jusuf Nurkic had 27 points and 12 rebounds, new backup Enes Kanter added 18 points and nine boards in his Portland debut, and the Trail Blazers beat Brooklyn. The center tandem was so good that the Trail Blazers didn’t even need a big night from All-star guard Damian Lillard, who was just 5-for-21 from the field. He finished with 13 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Allen Crabbe had 17 points for the Nets.
76ers 106, Heat 102: Tobias Harris had 12 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter, JJ Redick hit a late 3-pointer and Philadelphia overcame All-star center Joel Embiid’s absence. Ben Simmons added 21 points, Boban Marjanovic had 19 — including three free throws in the final 11⁄2 minutes — and Jimmy Butler had 18. Embiid will be out at least a week with a sore left knee. Dwyane Wade scored 19 points for Miami, and Dion Waiters added 18. Cavaliers 111, Suns 98: Cedi Osman scored 19 points, Kevin Love had 16 points and 11 rebounds and Cleveland sent Phoenix to its franchise-record 16th straight loss. Phoenix is an Nba-worst 11-49.
Note: The NBA and its players are continuing to move forward on plans to eliminate the “one-and-done” rule in college basketball, something that the sides have been working toward for months. The league has sent a proposal to the National Basketball Players Association on lowering the minimum age for entering the NBA Draft from 19 to 18, and the union discussed the contents at a meeting in the Bahamas earlier this week, a person with knowledge of the matter told The Associated Press on Thursday.