Raptors still riding high, earn 15th straight victory
OG Anunoby scored a career-high 25 points and matched his career high with 12 rebounds, Kyle Lowry had 27 points and 11 assists, and the Raptors extended their franchise-record winning streak to 15 by beating the Timberwolves 137-126 on Monday night in Toronto.
Pascal Siakam scored 14 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter, Rondae HollisJefferson had a season-high 21 and Fred VanVleet added 16 as the Raptors won their 16th straight home meeting with the T’wolves.
Lowry returned after missing Saturday’s win over the Nets because of whiplash, but center Serge Ibaka sat because of flu-like symptoms. Hollis-Jefferson started for Ibaka.
D’Angelo Russell scored 22 points in his T’wolves debut and Karl-Anthony Towns had 23 points and 10 rebounds, but the T’wolves couldn’t build on Saturday’s surprise victory over the Clippers that snapped a 13-game losing streak.
Russell sat out Saturday because of a right quad contusion.
Bucks win without Giannis: Khris Middleton and Eric Bledsoe scored 28 points apiece to lead the Bucks past the visiting Kings 123-111, as the Bucks won without new father Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Antetokounmpo, the reigning league MVP, missed the game after he and his girlfriend welcomed their first child, a son whose birth he announced earlier Monday on his Twitter account.
The Bucks trailed 90-88 after three quarters, but opened the final period with 13 consecutive points as the Kings missed their first five shots.
LeBron to Tokyo? LeBron James considering a return to the Olympics.
is
The 35-year-old James — a two-time gold medalist and three-time Olympian — was among 44 players announced by USA Basketball as finalists for the team that will play in the Tokyo Games this summer. James played in 2004, 2008 and 2012.
Layups: Miles Bridges scored 18 points and the Hornets ended a five-game skid with an 87-76 victory over the host Pistons. ... Alameda County (Calif.) Sheriff’s Deputy Alan Strickland field a federal lawsuit against Raptors President Masai Ujuiri, saying the basketball executive “hit him in the face and chest with both fists” as the deputy tried to check Ujiri’s credentials after the Raptors clinched their first NBA title last year. Strickland claims he was guarding the Oracle Arena floor June 13 after the Raptors beat the Warriors in Game 6 of the finals when Uriji attempted to join the celebration. Ujiri, who “had no visible credential,” tried to go around Strickland and “repeatedly ignored” the deputy’s orders to stop, the suit claims.