By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Giannis Antetokounmpo was here (27 points), there (9 rebounds) and everywhere (7 assists) in his first game for 2018. Yet he and his Milwaukee Bucks teammates didn’t find any way to silence an unstoppable DeMar DeRozan who scored a franchise-high 52 points, leading the Toronto Raptors to a 131-127 victory at Air Canada Centre.
This loss dropped the Bucks to 19 – 16 while the Raptors climbed to 25 – 10. Serge Ibaka struggled with his shooting (5/18) on his way to offering 11 points but also contributed 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 4 blocks. Jonas Valanciunas had 6 points and 5 boards in the 16 minutes he spent on the floor.
The “Greek Freak” didn’t celebrate a victory but the hundreds of Greeks present in the arena that “serenaded” him after the match with MVP chants, brought a smile to his face.
Thousands of Greeks serenaded @giannis_an34 in Toronto after tonight's game!! ??? pic.twitter.com/aDNmuqhWi9
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) January 2, 2018
In Chicago, Lauri Markkanen (19 points, 8 rebounds) and Nikola Mirotic (18 points, 10 rebounds) delivered but the Bulls fell to CJ McCollum’s (32 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds) Portland Trail Blazers 124 – 120 in overtime.
1/1 RESULTS & EURO-SCORERS:
|
ORLANGO MAGIC |
95 – 98 |
Evan Fournier 13 p., Mario Hezonja 4 p. |
|
|
MILWAUKEE BUCKS |
TORONTO RAPTORS |
127 – 131 |
Giannis Antetokounmpo 26 9 . 9 r. 7 a., Serge Ibaka 11 p. 8 r. 4 bl., Jonas Valanciunas 6 p. 5 r. |
|
124 – 120 |
Lauri Markkanen 19 p. 8 r., Nikola Mirotic 18 p. 10 r., Jusuf Nurkic 11 p. 15 r. Paul Zipser 2 p. |
||
|
LA LAKERS |
96 – 114 |
Nemanja Bjelica 5 p. 4 r., Ivica Zubac 4 p. 4 r. |
STANDINGS:
|
#
|
TEAM
|
PTS
|
MP
|
W
|
L
|
POINTS
|
+/-
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EASTERN | ||||||||
|
1
|
40
|
30
|
10
|
4138 – 3940
|
198
|
|||
|
2
|
TORONTO RAPTORS
|
35
|
25
|
10
|
3893 – 3622
|
271
|
||
|
3
|
36
|
24
|
12
|
3962 – 3862
|
100
|
|||
|
4
|
35
|
20
|
15
|
3575 – 3535
|
40
|
|||
|
5
|
37
|
21
|
16
|
3932 – 3848
|
84
|
|||
|
6
|
MILWAUKEE BUCKS
|
35
|
19
|
16
|
3691 – 3708
|
-17
|
||
|
7
|
36
|
19
|
17
|
3614 – 3677
|
-63
|
|||
|
8
|
37
|
19
|
18
|
3958 – 3960
|
-2
|
|||
|
9
|
36
|
18
|
18
|
3730 – 3732
|
-2
|
|||
|
10
|
36
|
17
|
19
|
3899 – 3918
|
-19
|
|||
|
11
|
37
|
14
|
23
|
3966 – 4054
|
-88
|
|||
|
12
|
36
|
13
|
23
|
3752 – 3822
|
-70
|
|||
|
13
|
CHICAGO BULLS
|
37
|
13
|
24
|
3738 – 3943
|
-205
|
||
|
14
|
38
|
12
|
26
|
3979 – 4181
|
-202
|
|||
|
15
|
36
|
10
|
26
|
3740 – 3887
|
-147
|
|||
| WESTERN | ||||||||
|
1
|
37
|
29
|
8
|
4261 – 3897
|
364
|
|||
|
2
|
35
|
26
|
9
|
4033 – 3740
|
293
|
|||
|
3
|
37
|
25
|
12
|
3743 – 3629
|
114
|
|||
|
4
|
38
|
24
|
14
|
4130 – 4026
|
104
|
|||
|
5
|
37
|
20
|
17
|
3831 – 3719
|
112
|
|||
|
6
|
36
|
19
|
17
|
3858 – 3809
|
49
|
|||
|
7
|
PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS
|
36
|
19
|
17
|
3682 – 3644
|
38
|
||
|
8
|
36
|
18
|
18
|
4002 – 4004
|
-2
|
|||
|
9
|
35
|
16
|
19
|
3693 – 3701
|
-8
|
|||
|
10
|
37
|
16
|
21
|
3745 – 3758
|
-13
|
|||
|
11
|
38
|
14
|
24
|
4022 – 4270
|
-248
|
|||
|
12
|
38
|
13
|
25
|
3839 – 3928
|
-89
|
|||
|
13
|
36
|
12
|
24
|
3491 – 3805
|
-314
|
|||
|
14
|
37
|
12
|
25
|
3653 – 3778
|
-125
|
|||
|
15
|
36
|
11
|
25
|
3852 – 4005
|
-153
|
|||