Bucks top Trail Blazers for 6th straight win
Antetokounmpo gets triple-double, Bledsoe scores 30 points for Milwaukee
MILWAUKEE — Giannis Antetokounmpo had his second triple-double of the season and the Milwaukee Bucks beat Carmelo Anthony and the shorthanded Portland Trail Blazers 137-129 on Thursday night.
Antetokounmpo had 24 points, 19 rebounds and a career-high 15 assists to lead the Bucks to their sixth straight victory. Antetokounmpo, who also had a triple-double in the season opener, has 16 career triple-doubles. Milwaukee is 14-2 in those games.
Eric Bledsoe added 30 points and six assists in the Bucks’ highest-scoring game of the season.
After scoring 10 points on 4-of-14 shooting in 24 minutes in his season debut Tuesday night against the Pelicans, Anthony had 10 points in the first half Thursday. The 10-time All-Star finished with 18 points (6-of-15 shooting) and seven rebounds for the Blazers, who were without Hassan Whiteside (hip), Damian Lillard (back), Zach Collins (shoulder) and Jusuf Nurkic (leg).
CJ McCollum scored a game-high 37 points and Skal Labissiere added 22 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks off the bench for Portland. The Trail Blazers lost their third straight game and seventh of the last nine against the Bucks, including sixth straight in Milwaukee.
The Bucks made their first seven shots, including three 3s, and led 17-6. Milwaukee never trailed.
The Bucks also had their highest first-half total, leading 72-58.
LAKERS: The goggles Kyle Kuzma wore to protect his right eye abrasion while taking extra shots after Los Angeles Lakers practice Thursday will become part of his gear starting with Friday night’s game in Oklahoma City.
He sustained the injury during Tuesday night’s victory over the Thunder when Oklahoma City’s Darius Bazley inadvertently struck Kuzma in his eye with a fingernail and an elbow, causing the Lakers forward to lose some of his sight.
Kuzma was held out during the second half of the game at Staples Center, but he has vowed to play in the rematch in Oklahoma City. He’ll just have to wear the goggles, channeling his inner James Worthy, who famously wore goggles during his Hall-of-Fame career with the Lakers.
“Doing better, but yesterday (my eye) was completely shut,” Kuzma said after practice. “Now it’s open, so I can see a little bit better. Still blurry. I went to the doctor, had like four, five scratches in the eye. It’s all right though.”
The Lakers’ medical staff cleared Kuzma to play and he tried to persuade coach Frank Vogel to put him back in the game Thursday. Vogel declined.
But, Kuzma said, he doesn’t plan on missing any more time.
“No, no time, just gotta wear goggles, be protective,” he said. “Don’t want to feel that feeling again because it really hurts. So I’m James Worthy now.”
Kuzma was told Worthy earned the nickname “Big Game James” because of his playoff exploits while wearing the goggles.
“Big Game Kuz. I like how that sounds,” said a smiling Kuzma.
It was a scary moment for Kuzma because of the pain. His eye was still red two days later when he talked to the media.
“It hurt to open it. The light was hurting it,” he said. “It was kind of like super, like, blurry. Couldn’t really see nothing. Even yesterday, I really couldn’t see much until nighttime.”
MAGIC: Orlando center Nikola Vucevic will reportedly miss at least four weeks due to an ankle injury he sustained against the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday.
Vucevic was scheduled to have an MRI on his right ankle Thursday when the team arrived in Indianapolis, but the Magic has not released information on his condition.
The Magic canceled its scheduled Thursday practice at Bankers Life Fieldhouse ahead of Saturday’s meeting with the Pacers.
Shams Charania of Stadium and The Athletic reported how long Vucevic will be out, citing league sources.
Vucevic hurt his ankle late in the second quarter of Wednesday’s game at Scotiabank Arena.
Vucevic had to be helped off the floor after he was injured trying to block a layup attempt by Raptors guard Norman Powell with 5:32 left in the quarter. Vucevic landed awkwardly when he came down from his leap and a replay showed he might have caught a piece of Powell’s right foot.
DEATH: Wataru “Wat” Misaka, the first player of Japanese descent to play in the league that was the predecessor to the NBA, has died.
He was 95.
The University of Utah athletic department said in a news release Thursday that Misaka died Wednesday in Salt Lake City. He grew up in Ogden, Utah.
Mikasa was the point guard on the Utah team that won the NCAA Tournament in 1944 and the NIT in 1947.
Misaka played three games for the New York Knickerbockers during the 1947-48 season in the Basketball Association of America.