Giannis Antetokounmpo surged in overtime, scoring 10 of his 32 points to lift the Milwaukee Bucks to a thrilling 109-105 win over the Philadelphia 76ers in their heavyweight NBA clash on Wednesday night.
The Eastern Conference leaders exploded out of the gates against third-placed Milwaukee to lead 45-31 at half-time, before Antetokounmpo led a second-half revival. The Bucks forced overtime with a 28-19 last quarter before the reigning MVP asserted his authority to seal the win.
Antetokounmpo also finished with 15 rebounds and five assists, while Donte DiVincenzo had 20 points and Jrue Holiday 19.
Tobias Harris led an even effort from the 76ers with 19 points and nine rebounds, while Danny Green scored 18 and Dwight Howard had 13 points and 15 boards.
The back-to-back MVP put on a show in Philly: 32 PTS | 15 REB | 5 AST pic.twitter.com/zz3AGxLYHs — Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) March 18, 2021
James Harden excelled with his 11th triple-double of the season to lead the Brooklyn Nets to a 125-115 win at the Indiana Pacers.
Harden, who has turned the Nets into one of the form teams in the competition since arriving in January, had 40 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds to lift the under-strength Brooklyn, who were without Kyrie Irvin, Kervin Durant and Blake Griffin.
Joe Harris had 19 points for the Nets, who sit between the 76ers and Bucks in the upper reaches of the Eastern Conference table, while Jeff Green and Tyler Johnson had 15 each.
Malcolm Brogdon had 24 points for Indiana while Domantas Sabonis had a triple-double with 18 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists.
This Harden handle, cut and lob to DJ.. 🤯@BrooklynNets lead at half on NBA TV pic.twitter.com/Hq1XejaJfN — NBA (@NBA) March 14, 2021
The Cleveland Cavaliers ended a four-game losing streak to bring St Patrick's Day pain to the Boston Celtics with a 117-110 win, with Collin Sexton scoring 29 points and Darius Garland adding 25.
Cleveland led throughout and held a 55-38 advantage at half time but had to hold off a second-half fightback by Boston led by Jayson Tatum, who finished with 29 points, and Jaylen Brown, who had 28.
Larry Nance Jr had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Cavs.
54 points12 assists11 rebounds Sexland combined to pull out all the stops for the #CavsCeltics W!#BeTheFight pic.twitter.com/pnU8MUCaO6 — Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) March 18, 2021
In other games, the Sacramento Kings won 121-119 at the Washington Wizards, the Detroit Pistons beat the visiting Toronto Raptors 116-112, the San Antonio Spurs won 106-99 at the Chicago Bulls.
The Golden State Warriors won 108-94 away to the Houston Rockets, the Denver Nuggets won 129-104 at home to the Charlotte Hornets, the Memphis Grizzlies edged the visiting Miami Heat 89-85, and the Dallas Mavericks won at home against the Los Angeles Clippers, 105-89.
