Damian Lillard scored 39 points in his first game with his new team and the Milwaukee Bucks regrouped after blowing a 19-point lead to open their season by beating the Philadelphia 76ers 118-117 on Thursday night.
The former Portland Trail Blazers star set a record for the most points by a player in his Bucks debut. Terry Cummings scored 34 points in his first game for the Bucks in 1984.
Giannis Antetokounmpo added 23 points and 13 rebounds while shooting 10 of 22 from the floor to become the franchise’s career leader in baskets.
Antetokounmpo has 5,905 career field goals, while Kareem Abdul-Jabbar made 5,902 baskets with the Bucks from 1969-75.
Tyrese Maxey scored 31, Kelly Oubre Jr. had 27 and Joel Embiid 24 for the 76ers.
Lillard was playing with a different team for the first time after spending his first 11 seasons in Portland.
Lillard requested a trade in the offseason and landed in Milwaukee, which gave up two-time All-Star Jrue Holiday, Grayson Allen and plenty of draft capital to land the seven-time All-NBA guard.
LAKERS 100, SUNS 105
Anthony Davis had 30 points and 13 rebounds, LeBron James scored 10 of his 21 points while playing the entire fourth quarter, and Los Angeles blew past short-handed Phoenix in the final minutes.
James made the tiebreaking layup with 1:11 to play for the Lakers, who rallied from a 12-point deficit entering the fourth to get their first victory of the new season in the home opener of James’ 21st NBA campaign.
Kevin Durant had 39 points and 11 rebounds for the Suns, who played without injured stars Devin Booker and Bradley Beal.
The Suns led 84-72 entering the fourth, but missed 13 of their next 14 shots and committed 10 turnovers in the next 10 minutes.
Durant and James improbably hadn’t faced each other on an NBA court since Christmas 2018.
Injuries, load management and health and safety protocols prevented them from playing in the previous 13 meetings between James’ Lakers and Durant’s Warriors, Nets and Suns.
Credit: AP
You must be logged in to post a comment.