Home » Sports » Basketball
Cavs defeat tops night of upsets
Print Edition
GIANNIS Antetokounmpo led a night of upsets in the National Basketball Association on Tuesday with 34 points as the Milwaukee Bucks stunned LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Antetokounmpo, 21, also grabbed 12 rebounds and contributed five assists as a Cavaliers side featuring both James and Kyrie Irving failed to fire.
Greek international Antetokounmpo was ably supported by Jabari Parker (18 points) and Michael Beasley (17) as the Bucks scored a win which improves their season to 8-8.
The Cavaliers loss saw the champions fall to 13-3 for the season. James finished with 22 points to lead the scoring for the team, ahead of Irving with 20 points at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.
But the star of the night was Antetokounmpo, who became one of the highest paid players in the NBA earlier this year when he inked a US$100-million four-year deal.
Last season the giant forward averaged 16.9 points, 7.7 rebounds. 4.3 assists and 1.4 blocks in 80 games. So far this season Antetokounmpo is averaging 22 points per game, suggesting the Bucks were wise to invest in the 2.11-meter son of Nigerian immigrants who was born in Athens in 1994.
“We were moving the ball and we didn’t stop moving the ball,” Antetokounmpo said. “Our pace was great, we rebounded the ball well and we moved the ball in the offensive end.”
The Bucks’ upset win was the biggest shock of the day as various in-form teams lost to unheralded opposition.
San Antonio’s nine-game winning streak came to an abrupt halt when the Western Conference giants crashed to a 83-95 defeat against the Orlando Magic.
Serge Ibaka scored 18 points while Nikola Vucevic added 12 points and 10 rebounds as the Magic silenced the Spurs fans at the AT&T Center.
The victory ended a four-game losing streak for Orlando, which improved to 7-11. San Antonio slipped to 14-4.
Spurs star Kawhi Leonard led the scoring for the home side with 21 points with LaMarcus Aldridge adding 16 points and Manu Ginobili chipping in with 13.
The Los Angeles Clippers fell to 14-5 against the Brooklyn Nets in New York, with the underdogs improving their record to 5-12 after a wild 127-122 victory in double overtime.
Sean Kilpatrick was the hero for the Nets, finishing with a career-high 38 points — 31 of them coming after the third quarter — as Brooklyn reeled in the Clippers who at one stage had led by 18 points.
A stormy contest saw Clippers coach Doc Rivers ejected after an angry outburst at referee crew chief Ken Mauer. Rivers needed to be restrained by players before leaving the court in disgust.
Elsewhere in the NBA, it was: Pistons 112, Hornets 89; Pelicans 105, Lakers 88; and Jazz 120, Rockets 101.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
