WASHINGTON, NOV 27 – Damian Lillard scored 37 points to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a 106-103 victory in Miami in the NBA Cup yesterday, despite playing without Giannis Antetokounmpo due to a knee injury.
Lillard scored 10 of 17 points and eight of 13 points including 12 assists as the Bucks improved to 3-0 in group play while the Miami Heat fell to 1-2 and never led.
“It’s a running game. I started the game well,” Lillard said. “I’m not trying to force it. I don’t want to be passive. I try to stay aggressive. I just want to compete as much as I can. We have played well.”
All 30 league clubs play for the NBA Cup in an in-season tournament with teams divided into six groups of five for the games. round-robin with hopes of advancing to the knockout rounds in December with matches also counting in the season standings.
The Houston Rockets made it to the quarterfinals but a surprise came in Miami, where Greek star Antetokounmpo suffered a left knee injury, forcing Lillard to take over in goal.
The Heat scored 26 points to end the third quarter to give the Bucks a 22-point advantage to 85-80 entering the fourth quarter and a 16-point score put the hosts up 96-96 with 4:02 left.
Bucks’ AJ Green and Miami’s Terry Rozier traded three-pointers late in the game, with Rozier leading the Heat to 104-103 with 30 seconds left.
Green then hit another three-pointer but it was floated just after the timeout, giving Miami the ball with five seconds to play. – AFP
