GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO collected 35 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds to fuel the host Milwaukee Bucks to a 146-122 victory over the New York Knicks on Tuesday in the quarterfinals of the NBA in-season tournament.
Mr. Antetokounmpo, who turns 29 on Wednesday, made 15 of 22 shots from the floor, and Damian Lillard recorded 28 points and seven assists.
Malik Beasley drained six 3-pointers for all 18 of his points for the Bucks, who set a season high in points to advance to the semifinals against the Indiana Pacers on Thursday in Las Vegas.
Milwaukee shot a robust 60.4 percent from the floor (55 of 91) and 60.5 percent from 3-point range (23 of 38) en route to notching its 10th win in 12 games overall and ninth in a row at home. The Bucks also posted a 110-105 win over the Knicks to begin the in-season tournament on Nov. 3.
New York’s Julius Randle scored a season-high 41 points after making 14 of 19 shots from the floor, including all nine shots he attempted in the first half. He eclipsed his previous season-high point total of 29.
Jalen Brunson scored 24 points and RJ Barrett collected 23 points and eight rebounds for the Knicks. New York’s loss in this quarterfinal game means it will travel to Boston to play the Celtics on Friday.
Mr. Lillard scored Milwaukee’s last 13 points to give his team a 75-72 lead at halftime. He capped that surge by sinking a 3-pointer with 3.1 seconds remaining.
The Bucks scored 18 of the first 24 points of the third quarter to push their advantage to 93-78. Mr. Antetokounmpo scored eight points in that stretch, highlighted by converting an alley-oop inbounds pass from Khris Middleton.
Milwaukee outscored New York by a 37-24 margin in the third quarter to push its lead to 112-96.
Josh Hart sank a 3-pointer to ignite a 7-0 run by the Knicks to start the fourth quarter, but the Bucks bounced back by scoring 13 of the game’s next 15 points. Cameron Payne’s 3-pointer capped the surge to extend Milwaukee’s advantage to 125-105 with 6:42 remaining.
LA LAKERSLebron James scored 31 points and dished out 11 assists, Anthony Davis added 27 points and 15 rebounds and the Los Angeles Lakers advanced to the semifinals of the NBA in-season tournament with a 106-103 victory over the visiting Phoenix Suns on Tuesday.
Austin Reaves scored 20 points for the Lakers, who will face the New Orleans Pelicans in one semifinal game Thursday at Las Vegas. The Milwaukee Bucks will face the Indiana Pacers in the other semifinal, also on Thursday at Las Vegas, with the final set for Saturday there.
Los Angeles improved to 5-0 during in-season tournament games.
Kevin Durant scored 31 points for the Suns, who lost for the third time in their past four games after a seven-game winning streak. Phoenix lost two of its five games in the in-season tournament, both against Los Angeles.
Devin Booker and Grayson Allen each scored 21 points for the Suns, with Mr. Booker grabbing 11 rebounds. Phoenix head coach Frank Vogel, who was the Lakers’ coach when they won the 2020 NBA title, is 0-3 this season against his former team. The Suns took a 95-94 lead on a 3-pointer from Mr. Durant with 5:45 remaining, but then they went more than four minutes without a field goal as the Lakers took a 102-97 lead with 2:20 remaining after six consecutive L.A. points from Mr. James. Mr. Durant ended the field-goal drought with a short jumper to bring Phoenix within 102-99 with 1:02 remaining, and Mr. Booker brought the Suns within a point at 102-101 on a layup with 30 seconds left.
After missing his first five shots of the fourth quarter, Mr. Reaves buried a 3-pointer with 15 seconds left for a 105-101 lead. Mr. Durant made a quick layup to get the Suns within 105-103, and Mr. Davis sank 1 of 2 free throws with 6.6 seconds remaining. Mr. Durant missed a 3-point attempt at the buzzer.
The Lakers stormed out to a 33-23 lead after one quarter, assisted by 10 Suns turnovers. Los Angeles led 59-47 at halftime after Mr. Davis scored 20 points and pulled down six rebounds.
After the Suns opened the second half on a 14-0 run, the Lakers were up 83-82 through three quarters. — Reuters
