INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo made a 17-foot buzzer-beating jumper to give the Milwaukee Bucks a 117-115 victory over the short-handed Indiana Pacers on Monday night.
Antetokounmpo had 33 points, 13 rebounds and five assists on a night he went 14 of 21 from the field. Kyle Kuzma added 15 points to help the Bucks win for the third time in four games, taking the first of four scheduled regular season matchups against a Central Division rival it has faced 22 times since the start of the 2023-24 season.
This time, though, longtime Pacers center Myles Turner was dressed in a Bucks jersey after signing a free-agent deal in July. Fans serenaded him with boos all night, starting with a pregame video tribute that played even before player introductions.
Turner had nine points, seven rebounds and five blocks while connecting on 3 of 7 shots and scoring only two points in the second half, a short, tiebreaking basket with 2:22 left.
Pascal Siakam led the Pacers with 32 points and eight assists. Turner’s replacement, Isaiah Jackson, had 21 points and 10 rebounds.
TIMBERWOLVES 125, NETS 109
NEW YORK (AP) — Julius Randle had 19 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in his 15th career triple-double, and Minnesota beat winless Brooklyn.
Donte DiVincenzo scored 25 points, Jaden McDaniels finished with 22 and Rudy Gobert added 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who won their two straight.
Randle had his first triple-double with the Wolves.
Cam Thomas had 25 points and Nic Claxton chipped in 19 for the Nets, who fell to 0-7. The Nets opened the 2009-10 campaign with 18 straight losses while playing in New Jersey, two seasons before their move to Brooklyn.
KNICKS 119, WIZARDS 102
NEW YORK (AP) — Karl-Anthony Towns scored a season-high 33 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, leading New York to a victory over Washington.
Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby each added 16 points, and Jordan Clarkson scored 15 off the bench. Josh Hart had 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Alex Sarr led the Wizards with 19 points. Bilal Coulibaly, Corey Kispert and Kyshawn George each had 15.
The Knicks are 4-0 at home this season and 0-3 on the road.
After shooting a sizzling 72.2% (13 for 18) in the first quarter, the Wizards took their biggest lead at 32-22 on Tre Johnson’s jumper to open the second.
The Wizards were still ahead 38-34 when the Knicks went on a 16-3 run and took a 50-41 lead.
JAZZ 105, CELTICS 103
BOSTON (AP) — Jusuf Nurkic dropped in a putback with 0.6 seconds remaining and Utah overcame a double-digit, second-half deficit to beat Boston.
Keyonte George scored a season-high 31 points, and Lauri Markkanen added 20 points and nine rebounds to help the Jazz end a three-game losing streak.
The Celtics had a chance to tie, but Jaylen Brown was called for a foul on the inbounds play. Boston’s challenged but was unsuccessful allowing the Jazz to inbound the ball and run out the clock.
Brown led Boston with 36 points, but was 0 for 9 from the 3-point line. Boston shot a season-low 21.6% (11 of 51) from beyond the arc.
Payton Pritchard added 18 points and Derrick White finished with 10 points for the Celtics. They have lost their last two after winning three straight.
PISTONS 114, GRIZZLIES 106
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Cade Cunningham scored 19 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter and Detroit held off Memphis.
As the Grizzlies cut into Detroit’s lead in the fourth quarter, Cunningham scored nine straight points for the Pistons to thwart the rally. Isaiah Stewart added 26 points and 14 rebounds, and Jalen Duren and Ron Holland II had 14 points each.
Jaren Jackson Jr. led Memphis with 21 points, and Ja Morant had 18 points and 10 assists. The game was Morant’s first since a one-game suspension for acts detrimental to the team after the Grizzlies’ Friday night loss to the Lakers. He served the penalty in Memphis’ loss to Toronto on Sunday.
The Pistons stretched the lead to 81-60 with a 21-4 run in the third.
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Memphis looked out of sync on offense with little flow and struggling to get inside. The Pistons continued shooting above 50% for the first three quarter. Detroit would end the night with 58 points in the paint, compared to 30 for Memphis.
Detroit built a 58-48 lead at the half as Memphis struggled with a plague of turnovers and a 33% shooting half against an active Pistons defense.
ROCKETS 110, MAVERICS 102
HOUSTON (AP) — Amen Thompson scored a season-high 27 points, Alperen Sengun added 26 points and 11 rebounds and Houston outlasted Dallas Mavericks for a victory.
Houston has won four straight after dropping its first two games of the season.
The Rockets led by one when Sengun drove into the lane and spun around a defender before sinking a shot to make it 105-102 with about 90 seconds left. P.J. Washington missed a 3-pointer before Josh Okogie scored his first points of the game with two free throws that pushed the lead to 107-102 with a minute to go.
D’Angelo Russell missed a 3-pointer and Thompson made 1 of 2 free throws to extend it to 108-102 with 27 seconds remaining. Thompson then blocked a 3-point attempt by No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg and Tari Eason sealed the win with a dunk.
Washington had season highs of 29 points and 12 rebounds for the Mavericks in their second straight game without Anthony Davis, who is out with a strained calf. Max Christie added 17 points and Flagg had 12 points and five rebounds as Dallas fell to 2-5.
Kevin Durant had 21 points, six rebounds and five assists on a night he shot just 6 of 18 from the floor.
NUGGETS 130, KINGS 124
DENVER (AP) — Nikola Jokic scored a season-high 34 points and had 14 assists, Aaron Gordon added 20 points and Denver never trailed in a victory over Sacramento.
Jokic, who opened the season with four straight triple-doubles, grabbed a season-low four rebounds but has recorded at least a double-double in the first six games.
The Nuggets have won six straight against Sacramento dating to the 2023-24 season.
Russell Westbrook had 26 points and 12 rebounds, both season highs, against his former team. Seven Sacramento players scored in double figures, but Zach LaVine, who entered Monday averaging 29.5 points, finished with a season-low 15 on just 4-of-11 shooting.
LAKERS 123, TRAIL BLAZERS 115
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Deandre Ayton had 29 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots against his former team, leading the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers to a victory over Portland.
Rui Hachimura added 28 points for the Lakers, who were missing both Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves after both played the night before in a 130-120 victory over Miami.
Nick Smith Jr., who is on a two-way deal, hit a pair of 3-pointers to help the Lakers pull away in the final minutes and finished with 25 points.
Deni Avdija had 33 points for the Blazers, who had their three-game winning streak snapped.
The Lakers, who won their fourth straight, were down to nine available players. Doncic, who had 29 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists against the Heat, was unavailable due to lower left leg contusion injury management. The injury forced him to miss three games earlier this season.
HEAT 120, CLIPPERS 119
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Ban Adebayo had 25 points and 10 rebounds, Norman Powell added 21 points in his return to Southern California and Miami held off the Los Angeles Clippers.
Andrew Wiggins scored 17 points and Kel’el Ware added 16 to help the Heat end a two-game losing streak and win on the road for the second time in five games. Miami is 1-2 to open a four-game trip.
James Harden scored 29 points and Kawhi Leonard added 27 as the Los Angeles Clippers lost at home for the first time in four games this season.
Ivica Zubac had nine points and 18 rebounds for Los Angeles. Derrick Jones Jr., Bradley Beal and John Collins each scored 12 points.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
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