MINNESOTA – Giannis Antetokounmpo had only praise for teammate Damian Lillard, as the Milwaukee Bucks roared out of the National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star break with a 112-107 victory at Western Conference leaders Minnesota on Feb 23.
The “Greek Freak” led his team with 33 points and 13 rebounds, but it was Lillard who drilled a 21-foot, step-back jumper with 10.3sec left to seal the win.
The Bucks had to hold off a frantic Minnesota rally that saw the Timberwolves slice a 17-point deficit to four with 1min 58sec left to play.
Antetokounmpo grabbed two offensive rebounds and made three free throws to push the lead back to seven.
Two clutch three-pointers from Anthony Edwards kept the Timberwolves in with a chance, but Antetokounmpo found Jae Crowder for a layup and Lillard delivered the dagger.
“That’s what Dame does,” Antetokounmpo said of Lillard, who had 21 points.
“We’ve just got to get out of his way and just let him be great. He thrives with those moments.”
Edwards finished with 28 points, while Karl-Anthony Towns scored 22 points for the Timberwolves.
But ultimately Minnesota could not overcome a disastrous third quarter in which the Bucks out-scored them 36-13.
Antetokounmpo was displeased with the Bucks’ own sloppy spell early in the fourth.
“But we kept our composure,” he added.
The same could not be said for the Miami Heat and the Pelicans in New Orleans, where the Heat triumphed 106-95 in a roller coaster of a contest that saw four players ejected after a brawl early in the fourth quarter.
Miami star Jimmy Butler scored 23 points with nine rebounds before he was among those tossed in the melee that erupted after teammate Kevin Love tried to wrap up Zion Williamson and the Pelicans star ended up on the floor.
Butler and Naji Marshall got into a shoving match, with Marshall briefly grabbing Butler’s throat.
Players flooded the court and Heat back-up centre Thomas Bryant – who did not even play in the game – was among those ejected, as was New Orleans point guard Jose Alvarado, who appeared to throw a punch.
“Nobody wants to see anything like that,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of the fracas, which he believed stemmed from a “misunderstanding” of what happened on the play when Williamson fell.
“I honestly think Zion slipped on the play when K-Love grabbed him. And then everybody kind of over-reacted.”
Williamson, who led the Pelicans with 23 points, said Love actually tried to protect him when he fell. He tried to calm things down, but things just escalated.
“It’s just competitive,” he said. “It’s people riding for their teammates.”
Tempers flared also in San Francisco, where Golden State’s Lester Quinones and Charlotte’s Grant Williams were ejected when players scuffled in the waning moments of the Warriors’ 97-84 victory over the Hornets.
Stephen Curry led the Warriors – whose coach Steve Kerr has reportedly agreed a two-year extension – with 15 points in the victory over his brother Seth’s Hornets.
Elsewhere, LeBron James returned from an ankle injury to score 30 points in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 123-118 victory over rookie sensation Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs.
AFP, REUTERS
