The Milwaukee Bucks, led by Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 44 points, on Thursday held off the San Antonio Spurs 125-121, despite another stellar performance from Victor Wembanyama on his 20th birthday.
In the other match of a marquee double-header, Nikola Jokic drained a buzzer-beating three-pointer to give reigning champions the Denver Nuggets a 130-127 victory over the Golden State Warriors — who had led by 18 points midway through the fourth quarter.
Wembanyama was restricted to 26 minutes on the floor in his highly anticipated first encounter with Antetokounmpo as he recovers from the ankle trouble that saw him miss the Spurs’ game in Milwaukee last month.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The French rookie scored 27 points with nine rebounds and five blocked shots.
Devin Vassell led the Spurs with 34 points, but the highlight-reel battle between Antetokounmpo and Wembanyama stole the show in San Antonio.
“He’s unbelievable, unbelievable talent,” Antetokounmpo said of Wembanyama, whose combination of size and skill has drawn comparisons to the Greek superstar.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Wembanyama thrilled fans with an array of jaw-dropping shots, including a first-half dunk off his own bounce off the backboard.
“He can score at will, anytime he wants. Plays the right way, plays to win. It was good playing against him,” said Antetokounmpo, who grabbed 14 rebounds as the Bucks improved to 25-10, the third-best record in the league.
The entertaining contest was tied 93-93 heading into a fourth quarter that featured eight lead changes, the Spurs battling for the upset in a season that has seen them win just five games.
Photo: AFP
For Wembanyama it was also a chance to test himself against a player he “grew up watching” in Antetokounmpo — a two-time NBA Most Valuable Player who led the Bucks to the NBA title in 2020-2021.
“It’s always extra motivation,” Wembanyama said. “I want to go at everyone and be the bad guy on the court. So it was a great matchup.”
Antetokounmpo drained a three-pointer to tie it at 118-118 with three minutes to play. He then drew a charge call on Wembanyama and less than a minute later drilled another three-pointer to put the Bucks up 121-118.
Wembanyama answered with a big block of a Damian Lillard layup and a three-pointer that tied it with 1:09 remaining.
A dunk from Antetokounmpo put the Bucks back in front, but Wembanyama blocked another shot from a driving Antetokounmpo to keep the Spurs within reach.
A heavily guarded Wembanyama found open teammate Tre Jones for a potential game-tying three-pointer with just over a second to play, but Jones’ shot did not fall.
“Of course, the outcome isn’t what we wanted, but it was the widest open shot,” Wembanyama said, adding that the Spurs’ overall performance was encouraging.
“Just the fact that we can compete with a championship-level team like this is promising,” he said.
In San Francisco, Jokic sealed the Nuggets’ comeback win with a shot from just inside half-court, finishing with 34 points on 13 of 16 shooting.
The two-time NBA Most Valuable Player added nine rebounds and 10 assists.
Jokic’s step-back basket had tied it at 127-127 with 26 seconds remaining.
Teammate Jamal Murray then came up with a steal of an ill-judged Stephen Curry pass to set the stage for Jokic, who took an inbounds pass and headed up the court, pulling up to bank in the game-winner over Kevon Looney.
“Great players make great plays,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “Nikola catching the ball there and making something behind that, it’s just incredible... I’m very proud of our group for staying with it.”
Aaron Gordon added 30 points and Jamal Murray scored 25 for the Nuggets.
Curry led Golden State with 30 points and six assists. Klay Thompson added 24 points for the Warriors, who outscored the Nuggets 44-24 in the third quarter to seize control of the contest and were up by 18 with 6:51 to play.
Manchester City have reached do-or-die territory in the UEFA Champions League earlier than expected ahead of what Pep Guardiola has described as a “final” against Club Brugge today. City have disproved the suggestion a new format to Europe’s top club competition would remove any jeopardy for the top clubs as Guardiola stares down the barrel of failing to make the Champions League knockout stages for the first time in his career. The English champions have endured a torrid season both in their English Premier League title defense and on the continent. A run of one win in 13 games, which included Champions League
BACK-TO-BACK: The League One club, which is owned by stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, is sparing no expense to clinch promotion to the Championship Hollywood endings are pricey, even in England’s third division. In pursuit of their third straight promotion, Wrexham AFC splashed some cash at League One rival Reading to secure the services of striker Sam Smith. The Welsh club owned by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney confirmed the signing of the 26-year-old Smith on Friday. He is one of the top scorers in the third division. The transfer fee was not disclosed, but British media widely reported it to be about ￡2 million (US$2.48 million) — not extravagant, but a hefty price at this level and it would be about the same figure that
Less than a week after splashing out a world-record fee for Naomi Girma, Chelsea has spent big again to bring England midfielder Keira Walsh back to the English Women’s Super League. Walsh left European champions Barcelona after more than two years to join Chelsea for a reported ￡400,000 (US$496,000) on Friday. Walsh was the world’s most expensive player for two years after moving to Barcelona from Manchester City for a reported ￡400,000 in 2022. That status now belongs to Girma, the US defender who cost Chelsea a reported ￡900,000 to sign from the San Diego Wave. Still, it means 27-year-old Walsh — a technically
Ousmane Dembele on Wednesday scored a hat-trick as Paris Saint-Germain romped to a 4-1 win at VfB Stuttgart and qualified for the UEFA Champions League knockout stages. PSG were at risk of elimination after a disappointing league stage, with three losses and a draw, but were utterly dominant against an outclassed Stuttgart side as they confirmed their place in the playoffs. With six minutes gone, Bradley Barcola headed PSG in front after Desire Doue stood a cross up at the back post following a corner. Stuttgart probed for an equalizer, but PSG hit on the counterattack, Dembele tapping a Barcola pass into an
RSS