The Milwaukee Bucks won at the Oklahoma City Thunder. However, Giannis Antetokounmpo’s game winner provokes controversy. The Dallas Mavericks win their third game and set a franchise record in New Orleans. The Golden State Warriors are defeated at home by the Charlotte Hornets for a strong Dwight Howard.
It’s the most beautiful place back home. After crashes in Dallas and Oklahoma City, the Raptors returned to their home Air Canada Centre and immediately celebrated a safe home win – the eleventh in series. The hosts showed a solid team performance. All twelve players scored at least five points and the 13 converted threes were split into nine players,”It’s always nice to get home after such defeats. We found our groove again”, DeMar DeRozan said.
The Shooting Guard scored 25 points (10/18 FG) after some weak games and distributed 5 assists. Kyle Lowry (12) didn’t have a good day, but scored five points at the end of the first quarter and was a major contributor to the Raptors finishing the section with a 14:3 run. Atlanta let the game slip out of her hands. This was followed by 8 ball losses in the second quarter. Rookie OG Anunoby (9) used this to create two spectacular dunks.
Toronto went into the break with a comfortable 62:47 lead and then extended the lead, even though Taurean Prince (30 points, career record, 10 rebounds) was up 12 points in the quarter. However, Atlanta had too few options to attack. Dennis Schröder scored only 6 of his 20 throws and scored 14 points and 9 assists. Marco Belinelli also achieved the same point yield.
In Toronto, on the other hand, Jonas Valanciunas (13 points, 11 rebounds) scored a double in just 22 minutes. Jakob Pöltl also worked exemplary under the basket and picked up his 6 points 10 rebounds. On top of that, the Austrian also blocked 3 throws. Serge Ibaka was missing from the Raptors because of an internal team lockdown.
When the threesome falls, the Heat’s offense looks good. If this doesn’t happen, games like this come off. 11.5 percent (3/26 threesome) shot Miami from the perimeter, so there is no way to win a game in the NBA. Accordingly, it was a bitter evening for Erik Spoelstra’s team.”I am speechless. It’s like dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. We have these games that I just can’t explain,”said Spo at a loss.
Initially, there was little evidence of this. Miami started with an 8-0 run thanks to Hassan Whiteside’s 6 points, but that’s it with the Heat glory. The heat was almost five minutes without points and Brooklyn used it mercilessly. The guests took the lead and didn’t give it back. Miami hit just under 18 percent of the throws (3/17 FG) in the second quarter and disappeared with a 20 point deficit in the cabin.
But there was no comeback. The otherwise so good defense of the Heat found no access and Brooklyn hit 63 percent out of the field. The lead grew to 38 points and rang in a quarter of a garbage time. Best man of the guests was Rondae Hollis-Jefferson with 18 points (8/9 FG) and 8 rebounds. Rookie Jarrett Allen shone with 12 points and 9 boards. But top scorer was Joe Harris (21).
The bright spot at the Heat was Josh Richardson (19). Whiteside (17 points, 8 rebounds) also showed a good game in 20 minutes after his injury. For the Guard duo Tyler Johnson (11.4/15 FG) and Goran Dragic (11.3/12 FG) it was a thoroughly used day.
What a dramatic end to this game – and it will bring a lot of discussion. Giannis Antetokounmpo got himself with a spinmove against Josh Huestis at Baseline Square and stuffed the spalding into the basket for the 97:95 final score with 1.3 seconds left on the watch. However, the Greek player was clearly out of action with his spin, the referees did not punish him. OKC immediately wanted a replay, but since there was no whistle, the referees could not watch the scene again. This was confirmed by Referee Matthew Stafford after the match.
Thunder coach Billy Donovan was correspondingly upset,”He was clearly out of line. Everybody saw it. I hadn’t seen the scene in the replay yet, but I asked the referees for a replay, which they couldn’t do,” so it was that Milwaukee managed to beat the finish line.
The guests attributed the fact that it was once again in short supply to themselves. At the Thunder, Paul George was missing with knee problems and the Bucks took advantage of this at the beginning. Jason Kidd’s team led with up to 22 points before the break. But driven by Russell Westbrook (40 points, 16/34 FG, 14 rebounds, 9 assists) the Thunders came back and in the middle of the third quarter everything was open again. The Bucks countered and extended the lead to 14 points, but Westbrook obviously didn’t want to lose this game.
After a jumper by Eric Bledsoe (8), the Bucks’ padding was again five points 20 seconds before the end. Russ shortened with a quick Dunk and OKC sent Bledsoe to the free-throw line. The Point Guard showed nerves and Oklahoma City had ten seconds to force OT. And that’s what it looked like when Westbrook sent a wild threesome through the reuse like he did against the Atlanta Hawks – but then came Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The Greek was with 23 points (10/16 FG), 12 rebounds and 6 assists again the best man of the guests. He was well supported by Khris Middleton (20) and John Henson (18.4 blocks). Alongside Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony and Jerami Grant each contributed 12 points to OKC.
Page 1: Bucks victories in OKC controversial thanks to Giannis-Gamewinner
Page 2: Mavs set franchise record and win – Markkanen explodes
Page 3: Warriors stumble back home – Griffin makes a good comeback
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