Coby White powers Chicago Bulls to NBA win over Milwaukee Bucks

MILWAUKEE – Milwaukee coach Doc Rivers did not mince his words, as Chicago Bulls’ Coby White scored 35 points to spoil the Bucks’ first home game of the National Basketball Association (NBA) season on Oct 25 with a 133-122 win.

The Bulls withstood a 38-point, 11-rebound double-double from Milwaukee’s two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo, whose big night at Fiserv Forum included a monster dunk over Nikola Vucevic.

Damian Lillard added 28 points and eight assists for the Bucks, but it was not enough in the end.

“That was a disappointing game from us tonight. But give them credit, they played hard, they pushed the ball at pace, so I give them a lot of credit,” said Rivers.

“We tried, but I never thought that we ever got our offensive rhythm to give ourselves any chance of a (successful) defensive transition. I didn’t think we had it the entire game.

“First game at home, we want to do well, we want to show up. But I always say when you come into the game and you (have this thinking) of wanting to put on a show, you lose the competition.”

In a back-and-forth battle featuring 14 lead changes, Chicago seized the lead for good with 8min 52sec left in the third quarter when White banked in a shot for a 74-72 lead.

The Bulls were up by seven going into the fourth. Milwaukee cut the lead to just one point on a pair of three-pointers from A.J. Green in the first minute of the period.

However, Chicago forward Patrick Williams drained a three-pointer to ignite a 13-1 Bulls run, and the visitors closed it out comfortably.

While the Bucks faltered in front of their fans, Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges looked right at home at Madison Square Garden, scoring 21 points apiece to help the New York Knicks to a 123-98 victory over the Indiana Pacers.

Towns, acquired in a three-team trade from the Minnesota Timberwolves days before training camp, added 15 rebounds and two blocked shots.

“It definitely hits different to be home,” he said of playing his first game at the Garden as a Knick.

Bridges, who arrived in July in a cross-town trade with the Brooklyn Nets, made eight of 12 shot attempts as the Knicks shook off a blowout season-opening loss to the reigning champions Boston Celtics.

Jalen Brunson led the Knicks scoring with 26 points and Josh Hart added 20, as the Knicks gained a small measure of revenge against a Pacers team who ousted them in seven games in the second round of last season’s play-offs.

Bennedict Mathurin led the Pacers with 20 points off the bench, while star guard Tyrese Haliburton – the cornerstone of Indiana’s potent offence – missed all eight of his shot attempts to finish with zero points.

Over at Kia Centre, Franz Wagner scored 29 points with six rebounds and five assists as the Orlando Magic pulled away late for a 116-101 victory over the Nets.

Cam Thomas drilled a three-pointer to put Brooklyn up 63-61 with 5:47 left in the third quarter. However, Wagner made a pair of free throws and, after Paolo Banchero hauled in the rebound of a Thomas miss, Wagner made a three-pointer that put the Magic up for good.

His older brother Moritz Wagner added 18 points off the bench and Banchero scored 15 for the Magic, who pushed their lead to as many as 18 points in the fourth quarter.

Four Nets starters scored in double figures, but the Magic outscored them 67-55 in the second half.

In another game, Scottie Barnes scored 27 points as the Toronto Raptors defeated the visiting Philadelphia 76ers 115-107 at Scotiabank Arena.

Jakob Poltl added 19 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots for the Raptors, who have split their first two games of the season.

At the Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles Lakers clinched their second win of the campaign with a 123-116 home win over the Phoenix Suns, thanks to 35 points from Anthony Davis. AFP, REUTERS