NBA: Pacers top Jazz in game that sees 4 ejections

Malcolm Brogdon scored a game-high 30 points and the Indiana Pacers ended a four-game road trip with a 111-100 victory over the Utah Jazz in a wild game Thursday night in Salt Lake City.

A night after losing at Denver against a Nuggets team that was playing without suspended MVP Nikola Jokic, the Pacers seemed at a disadvantage against a Jazz team with all of its starters and a spotless home record entering the night.

Utah, however, finished the game without three of its key players after Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert and Joe Ingles were ejected following a fracas that also resulted in the Pacers losing starting center Myles Turner for the final four minutes.

With Indiana leading 102-92 -- after taking the lead for good in the second quarter -- Gobert and Turner got involved in a physical tit-for-tat that threatened to devolve into a large brawl at the 4:01 mark of the fourth quarter. The ruckus began when Turner hit a driving Gobert from behind under the basket.

Officials didn't call a foul, and a frustrated Gobert tugged at Turner's shorts. Gobert got up and began running down the court when he was hit from behind by Turner. The two players then grabbed each other and began grappling.

Players from both sides rushed toward the two bigs, with Mitchell and Ingles appearing to be the most agitated and needing to be restrained.

Referees reviewed the brouhaha for several minutes before determining that the Jazz trio and Turner had earned early showers. It's possible the league will levy fines as it did earlier in the week when Jokic and Markieff Morris had their even-uglier skirmish.

Brogdon hit a pair of the three technical free throws, and the Pacers cruised to their second road win in eight tries.

Wrestling match aside, the Pacers showed from the first quarter that they weren't just going to lay over despite being on a road back-to-back against one of the best teams in the NBA. Indiana held a 32-30 lead after the first quarter, and then used a Brogdon-sparked 11-2 spurt to regain the edge from the Jazz and take a 60-51 lead to the locker room against a Utah team that didn't play up to its usual defensive standards.

Though Mitchell scored 26 and Gobert totaled 19 points and 11 rebounds, the rest of the Jazz failed to pick up the slack. Jordan Clarkson was the only other player in double figures with 11 points.

The Pacers, meanwhile, had five players in double digits: Brogdon, T.J. McConnell (21 points), Kelan Martin (14), Turner (13) and Chris Duarte (11).

-reuters-

NBA: Brogdon's late basket lifts Pacers over Timberwolves

Malcolm Brogdon nailed a tiebreaking 15-footer with 18.7 seconds left and T.J. Warren scored a game-high 28 points Friday night as the host Indiana Pacers spoiled the return of Karl-Anthony Towns with a 116-114 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves to sweep a tightly contested home-and-home series.

The Pacers won 104-99 at Minnesota on Wednesday in a game Towns missed with an illness to continue a string of 15 straight absences after earlier having suffered a knee injury.

The All-Star center had a team-high 27 points in 28 minutes in his first game since Dec. 13, and was still producing with 1:48 remaining when his two free throws pulled Minnesota into a 114-all tie.

But with the score still tied, Towns committed an out-of-bounds turnover with 1:16 to go and teammate Andrew Wiggins had a similar miscue with 31.3 seconds left, setting up Brogdon's game-winner.

The Timberwolves had a chance to tie after Brogdon's clutch hoop, but Shabazz Napier misfired with 8.4 seconds remaining.

The Timberwolves' Robert Covington managed to tie up Warren for a jump ball as they battled for the rebound, but the Pacers were able to run out the clock after Warren controlled the tap.

Brogdon finished with a 12-point, 10-assist double-double.

The Pacers led for almost the entire first 46 minutes, going up by as many as 11 in the second quarter. They finished each of the first three periods with a 6-point lead.

A hoop by Aaron Holiday with 8:12 remaining allowed the Pacers to match their largest lead at 107-96, before the Timberwolves rallied.

Warren hit 11 of his 18 shots for the Pacers, who outshot the Timberwolves 56.1 percent to 45.5.

Jeremy Lamb chipped in with 18 points, Doug McDermott had 13 points and a team-high eight rebounds, and Holiday scored 13 points for Indiana, which won its fourth straight.

Towns' 27 points included three 3-pointers, helping the Timberwolves, who dropped their fourth in a row, to run up a 51-24 advantage in scoring from behind the line.

Wiggins backed Towns with 22 points, while Josh Okogie had 15, Jarrett Culver 12, Napier 12 to go with a team-high nine assists, and Covington nine to complement a game-high 10 rebounds.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

NBA: Antetokounmpo drops 30 in Bucks' win over Knicks

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 11 of his 30 points in the third quarter as the Milwaukee Bucks seized control and recorded a 109-95 Christmas Day victory over the host New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

Antetokounmpo recorded his 13th 30-point game of the season and added 14 rebounds for his 22nd double-double, but it was his performance in the third that helped the Bucks get a win in their first appearance on Christmas since facing the Kansas City Kings in 1977.

He also became the first Milwaukee player to score 30 on Christmas Day since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1972.

Milwaukee won for the fifth time in six games overall.

Coming off a season-low nine points Saturday in Miami, Antetokounmpo made 5 of 6 shots in the third when the Bucks shot 65 percent (15 of 23) and outscored New York 36-22.

He hit two layups, converted a dunk and hit two jumpers during the decisive quarter and helped the Bucks avenge a 136-134 overtime loss in New York on Dec. 1 when they blew a 16-point lead.

Brook Lopez added 20 points for the Bucks, who shot 54.7 percent while outscoring the Knicks 61-49 in a flawless second half.

Malcolm Brogdon contributed 17 points while Thon Maker chipped in 12 to help Milwaukee compensate for a rough showing by Khris Middleton, who shot 2 of 12 and scored six points.

Rookie Kevin Knox scored 21 points for the Knicks, who dropped their sixth straight Christmas Day game since beating Boston in 2011. Knox shot 8 of 20 as New York shot 36.5 percent overall while losing its fifth straight and 10th in 11 games since the overtime win over Milwaukee.

After holding a 48-46 lead after a ragged first half, the Bucks took control early in the third.

Antetokounmpo scored six points in the first 4:19 of the third and gave Milwaukee a 62-54 advantage on a thunderous dunk following a steal by Brogdon. A little over two minutes later, the Bucks took their first double-digit lead at 69-58 on a transition hoop by Antetokounmpo.

Milwaukee expanded its lead to 77-61 when Sterling Brown hit a 3-pointer with 2 1/2 minutes remaining, breaking a string of 17 straight missed 3-pointers. A dunk by Maker, a corner 3-pointer by George Hill and another basket by Maker helped stake Milwaukee to an 84-68 lead entering the fourth.

Antetokounmpo returned with 8:25 remaining when Milwaukee held a 90-75 lead, and the advantage was never below the 13 the rest of the way.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

NBA: Bucks roll past Cavs despite missing star player

Eric Bledsoe had 20 points, 12 rebounds and five assists to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a 108-92 win on Monday over the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers.

Malcolm Brogdon added 18 points, five rebounds and five assists for the Bucks. Khris Middleton chipped in with 16 as the Bucks connected on 15 of 36 3-point attempts.

The Bucks were playing without Giannis Antetokounmpo because of a sore neck. Antetokounmpo missed one other game this season, a Bucks' victory over Toronto on Oct. 29.

Ersan Ilyasova got the start for Antetokounmpo and totaled nine points and seven rebounds.

Larry Nance Jr. led the Cavs with 16 points and rookie Collin Sexton added 15. Tristan Thompson, who had 16 double-doubles coming into the game, finished with 12 points and six rebounds.

After trailing by 22 in the fourth quarter, Cleveland cut the deficit to 98-87 on a jumper by Sexton with under three minutes left.

Ilyasova answered with two free throws and Middleton added a short jumper to give the Bucks some breathing room.

Milwaukee took control early, surging to a 15-6 lead on the strength of five straight points from Bledsoe and a 27-foot 3-pointer from Middleton.

Sterling Brown scored eight first-quarter points off the bench to spark the Bucks to a 31-18 lead after the first period.

The Cavs scored the first seven of the second period, cutting the Milwaukee lead to 31-25. George Hill, traded last week from Cleveland to Milwaukee, finally got the Bucks on the board in the second with a layup, which ignited a 10-2 spurt to put the Bucks up 41-27.

Bledsoe hit two 3s, Lopez connected on another and the lead was 51-30 with 5:20 remaining in the half.

Milwaukee is now 4-0 on the second game of back-to-backs this season. The Bucks were coming off an impressive road win on Sunday over the Toronto Raptors, the team with the best record in the NBA.

The two teams play again on Friday night in Cleveland.

--Field Level Media

source: news.abs-cbn.com

NBA: Perfect Bucks use balance to hand Raptors first loss

The host Milwaukee Bucks held the Toronto Raptors without a field goal for the first 4:11 of the second quarter Monday night, establishing an early lead before pulling away for a 124-109 victory in a battle of unbeaten teams missing their Most Valuable Player candidates.

The Bucks improved to 7-0 despite the absence of Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was recovering from a concussion, and took advantage of the Raptors' decision to rest their star, Kawhi Leonard.

Milwaukee filled Antetokounmpo's void with balanced scoring, placing seven players in double figures, led by Ersan Ilyasova's 19.

Serge Ibaka had a season-high 30 for the Raptors, who fell to 6-1.

After a tight first quarter, the Bucks ran off to a 10-point lead with a 9-1 run to open the second period. Ilyasova and John Henson had dunks in the burst.

The Raptors didn't have a field goal in the second period until Danny Green buried a 3-pointer with 7:49 left in the half, as Toronto closed the double-digit lead to 42-35. But the Raptors never caught up.

Milwaukee went on to lead by nine at halftime and 15 at the end of three quarters before coasting home, topping 100 points for the seventh consecutive game.

Ilyasova finished with his first double-double of the season, complementing his season-best point total with 10 rebounds.

He got plenty of support from double-figure scorers Malcolm Brogdon (17), Eric Bledsoe (17), Khris Middleton (14), Donte DiVincenzo (12), Thon Maker (11) and Tony Snell (11).

Ibaka's 30-point game was the second of his career. His first came as a member of the Orlando Magic in a 2016 game at Oklahoma City.

Pascal Siakam had 22 points and Jonas Valanciunas 10 for the Raptors, while Kyle Lowry totaled a season-best 15 assists to go with nine points.

Lowry's assist total was the fourth of his career with 15 or more, and three shy of his career best of 18, set twice.

The Bucks improved to 5-0 at home, while the Raptors fell to 1-1 in just their second road game of the season.

Milwaukee outshot Toronto 48.9 percent to 39.4, and outscored the visitors 57-27 on 3-pointers.

Middleton had four of the Bucks' 19 3-pointers.

source: news.abs-cbn.com