Bucks cruise past 76ers in Rivers’ return to Philly
PHILADELPHIA — Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 30 points, Damian Lillard added 24 and the Milwaukee Bucks beat the 76ers 119-98 on Sunday in Doc Rivers’ return to Philadelphia.
Rivers was fired by Philadelphia after last season. He coached the 76ers from 2020-23, never getting past the second round of the playoffs, and Sunday was 12th game since taking over in Milwaukee.
Rivers was greeted by a chorus of boos from the sellout crowd during introductions, but his team quickly took the crowd out of the game with a blistering first quarter.
Lillard scored the first seven points for the Bucks and finished with 11 points in the quarter as Milwaukee built a 14-point lead.
Antetokounmpo, who also finished with 12 rebounds and nine assists, wrapped up the first half with a flourish, hitting a driving layup and also making a full-court pass to Brook Lopez for a dunk as the horn sounded to give Milwaukee its largest lead at 21 points. Philadelphia never got closer than 12 points in the second half. Suns 123, Lakers 113: At Phoenix, Grayson Allen scored 24 points, Kevin Durant added 22 and Phoenix pulled away late in the fourth quarter to beat Los Angeles.
Allen and Royce O’neale hit crucial 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to put the Suns up 116-104 with three minutes left. Jusuf Nurkic added 18 points, 22 rebounds and seven assists.
The Lakers trailed by 20 points late in the first quarter, but slowly cut the deficit to 92-90 by late in the third. Phoenix responded
with the next six points and didn’t trail in the fourth.
Pacers 133, Mavericks 111: At Indianapolis, Myles Turner scored a seasonhigh 33 points, Tyrese Haliburton added 17 points and 10 assists and Indiana beat Dallas to snap the Mavericks’ Western Conference-best seven-game winning streak.
Luka Doncic finished with 33 points, six assists and six rebounds for the Mavericks, who shot 47% from the field but allowed Indiana to shoot 56% and make 14 3-pointers. Kyrie Irving had 29 points and six rebounds for Dallas.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Andrew Nembhard and Haliburton broke the game open midway through the fourth quarter, pushing the Pacers in front 120-102. Dallas, which was within four earlier in the final period, later trailed by as many as 22. Cavaliers 114, Wizards 105: At Washington, Jarrett Allen had 22 points and 12 rebounds, Caris Levert added 18 points and 12 boards, and Cleveland avoided its
first three-game skid since December.
Evan Mobley added 21 points and Donovan Mitchell had 16 points in his return after missing the first two games following the All-star break with an illness.
Darius Garland scored eight of his 15 points during a late 22-4 run to help Cleveland secure a season sweep of Washington. The Cavs are second in the Eastern Conference, one game ahead of Milwaukee. Suspension: Miami’s Jimmy Butler and New Orleans’ Naji Marshall have been suspended for one game apiece for instigating an on-court altercation, the NBA announced.
The incident happened during the Heat-pelicans game Friday night.
Miami’s Thomas Bryant and New Orleans’ Jose Alvarado were both handed three-game suspensions for fighting and leaving the bench area. Miami’s Nikola Jovic also got a one-game suspension for leaving the bench area and entering the altercation, the league said.