While the Los Angeles Lakers hurry with seven-mile boots towards a long summer break, the fight for top in the East continues to pick up speed. The protagonists: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant and DeMar DeRozan. The NBA on Friday morning.
Antetokounmpo even made history in the 120-119 thriller at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The “Greek Freak” replaced the legendary Kareem-Abdul Jabbar as the best thrower in Milwaukee Bucks history during his 44-point gala and led his team to a hugely important victory. Antetokounmpo’s three-pointer tied the franchise-best and forced overtime. The superstar now stands at 14,216 points for Milwaukee, while Jabbar, best point scorer in NBA history came in at 14,211 points in his time for the Bucks.
Ahead of this Friday’s clash with the Los Angeles Clippers, the Bucks now sit second in the Eastern Conference just behind leaders Miami Heat. The Nets, on the other hand, for whom Kevin Durant (26 points, 11 assists) missed the final three-pointer for a possible victory, must slowly but surely resign themselves to making the play-offs only via the play-in tournament. At least the Nets have that chance, though.
Because the Atlanta Hawks won their home game against the Cleveland Cavaliers 131-107, none of the teams beyond tenth place still have a chance to qualify. For the New York Knicks, the Washington Wizards, the Indiana Pacers, the Detroit Pistons and the Orlando Magic, the NBA season ends after the main round. At the same time, the Cavs’ defeat also meant that the Boston Celtics around Daniel Theis now have their play-off ticket secure. The Celtics are third and now again ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers, who suffered an unexpected 94-102 defeat at the hands of the Pistons – despite a solid double-double from Joel Embiid (37/15).
Bulls beat Clippers – Lakers also hope Davis
Fifth in the Eastern Conference, the Chicago Bulls are just behind the Sixers and just ahead of the Toronto Raptors. The veteran champions fought the downward trend with a 135-130 home win over the L.A. Clippers . Man of the evening: DeMar DeRozan. The Bulls top scorer scored 50 points late in the game in style with a dunk and was duly celebrated afterwards.
In the West, however, the situation is not so clear. The Los Angeles Lakers also lost their away game to the Utah Jazz. The 109-122 loss was tantamount to falling back to eleventh place behind the San Antonio Spurs. However, the record champion still has hope of securing tenth place and, according to media reports, can at least rely on Anthony Davis again in the home game against the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday evening. It is unclear, however, whether LeBron James, who has been suffering from ankle pain lately, will be able to play.
