By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Greek All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 29 points and chased down the Boston Celtics‘ Jaylen Brown from behind and blocked what would have been a momentum-swinging layup with 53 seconds left.
The Milwaukee Bucks held on for a 106-102 win against a short-handed opponent with no Kyrie Irving, that they could face in the first round of the playoffs.
The win improved Milwaukee to 42-36, clinching a winning record for a second straight season and creating a three-way tie between the 6th and the 8th position in the East with the Washington Wizards and the Miami Heat.
The Heat beat the Atlanta Hawks 101-98, sealed their ticket to the playoffs and Slovenian All-Star Goran Dragic led the way with 22 points and 10 rebounds.
In the West, Serb Nikola Jokic scored 30 points, Jamal Murray hit a clutch 3-pointer late – his only one of the game – and the Nuggets held off the Indiana Pacers 107-104. The victory pulled Denver within a half-game of New Orleans for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Meanwhile, in Salt Lake City, Spaniard Ricky Rubio scored 31 points on 10-of-15 shooting, and added eight assists and six rebounds, to lift the Jazz to a 117-110 win over the Los Angeles Lakers, as the Jazz climbed to the fourth position of the West Standings with a 45-33 and a tie with the Spurs.
It was an amazing night with many big games by European stars.
|
112-106 |
Calderon 19 p. 4 r. 4 as. – Ibaka 16 p. 12 r. Valanciunas 17 p. 10 r. Poeltl 4 p. |
||
|
121-95 |
Ilyasvoa 11 p. 13 r. Belinelli 17 p. Korkmaz 5 p. |
||
|
MIAMI HEAT |
101-98 |
Dragic 22 p. 10 r. – Dorsey 18 p. |
|
|
73-97 |
Ntilikina 2 p. – Hezonja 19 p. Vucevic 11 p. 10 r. |
||
|
120-114 |
Markkanen 24 p. 7 r,. – Batum 11 p. 4 r. 5 as. Hernangomez 11 p. 8 r. |
||
|
120-104 |
Capela 21 p. 10 r. – Gortat 4 p. Mahinmi 2 r. Satoransky 8 p. 5 as. |
||
|
106-102 |
Antetokounmpo 29 p. 11 r . 6 as. Yabusele 1 r. |
||
|
107-111 |
Abrines 8 p. – Pachulia 2 p. 2 r. |
||
|
115-109 |
Nowitzki 14 p. Kleber 9 p. 8 r. – Nutkirc 15 p. 13 r. |
||
|
107-104 |
Jokic 30 p. 6 r. 7 as. 4 st. – Bogdanovic 11 p. Sabonis 14 p. |
||
|
UTAH JAZZ |
117-110 |
Gobert 12 p. 16 r. 5 as. Rubio 31 p. 6 r. 8 as. Jerebko 2 p. – Zubac 2 r. |
|
|
97-94 |
Bender 8 p. 7 r. Len 17 p. 15 r. – Bogdanovic 22 p. |
||
|
113-110 |
Marjanovic 8 p. 4 r. – Gasol 6 p. 2 r. Parker 5 p. |
Standings
|
#
|
TEAM
|
PTS
|
MP
|
W
|
L
|
POINTS
|
+/-
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EASTERN | ||||||||
|
1
|
77
|
55
|
22
|
8639 – 8052
|
587
|
|||
|
2
|
BOSTON CELTICS
|
77
|
53
|
24
|
8023 – 7713
|
310
|
||
|
3
|
78
|
48
|
30
|
8621 – 8548
|
73
|
|||
|
4
|
77
|
47
|
30
|
8397 – 8092
|
305
|
|||
|
5
|
INDIANA PACERS
|
78
|
46
|
32
|
8241 – 8109
|
132
|
||
|
6
|
MIAMI HEAT
|
78
|
42
|
36
|
8058 – 8009
|
49
|
||
|
7
|
WASHINGTON WIZARDS
|
78
|
42
|
36
|
8325 – 8270
|
55
|
||
|
8
|
MILWAUKEE BUCKS
|
78
|
42
|
36
|
8308 – 8319
|
-11
|
||
|
9
|
77
|
37
|
40
|
7954 – 7975
|
-21
|
|||
|
10
|
79
|
34
|
45
|
8501 – 8537
|
-36
|
|||
|
11
|
78
|
27
|
51
|
8048 – 8549
|
-501
|
|||
|
12
|
78
|
27
|
51
|
8123 – 8424
|
-301
|
|||
|
13
|
78
|
25
|
53
|
8287 – 8626
|
-339
|
|||
|
14
|
77
|
23
|
54
|
7986 – 8331
|
-345
|
|||
|
15
|
ATLANTA HAWKS
|
78
|
22
|
56
|
8061 – 8483
|
-422
|
||
| WESTERN | ||||||||
|
1
|
78
|
63
|
15
|
8827 – 8121
|
706
|
|||
|
2
|
78
|
57
|
21
|
8882 – 8343
|
539
|
|||
|
3
|
78
|
48
|
30
|
8278 – 8055
|
223
|
|||
|
4
|
UTAH JAZZ
|
78
|
45
|
33
|
8099 – 7814
|
285
|
||
|
5
|
SAN ANTONIO SPURS
|
78
|
45
|
33
|
8000 – 7753
|
247
|
||
|
6
|
79
|
45
|
34
|
8484 – 8246
|
238
|
|||
|
7
|
78
|
44
|
34
|
8546 – 8401
|
145
|
|||
|
8
|
77
|
43
|
34
|
8555 – 8538
|
17
|
|||
|
9
|
DENVER NUGGETS
|
78
|
43
|
35
|
8592 – 8494
|
98
|
||
|
10
|
78
|
42
|
36
|
8527 – 8455
|
72
|
|||
|
11
|
LOS ANGELES LAKERS
|
77
|
33
|
44
|
8333 – 8447
|
-114
|
||
|
12
|
79
|
25
|
54
|
7829 – 8403
|
-574
|
|||
|
13
|
78
|
24
|
54
|
7990 – 8188
|
-198
|
|||
|
14
|
77
|
21
|
56
|
7610 – 8070
|
-460
|
|||
|
15
|
79
|
20
|
59
|
8195 – 8954
|
-759
|
|||