Giannis scores 44 as the Bucks beat the Rockets

By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 44 points and became Milwaukee’s career free throws leader as the Bucks rolled to a 125-105 victory over the Houston Rockets.

The Greek Freak went 8 of 13 from the foul line to increase his total to 3,508 free throws out of 4,891 attempts (71.7%). Sidney Moncrief made 3,505 free throws with the Bucks from 1979-89.

The two-time MVP played less than 28 minutes but still had 12 rebounds. Antetokounmpo shot 17 of 21 from the floor, including 2 of 3 from 3-point range.

Spanish-Congolese Serge Ibaka added nine points for the winners, while Turkish big man Alperen Senguan had nine points and nine rebounds for Houston, Serb Boban Marjanovic added three points and recent Eurobasket gold medal winner with Spain, Usman Garuba was a starter with six points, eight rebounds, and four steals.

Nikola Jokic tied Wilt Chamberlain for sixth all-time with his 78th triple-double in Denver’s 122-117 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Jokic had 19 points, 16 rebounds, and 13 assists for the Nuggets.

Last but not least, Luca Doncic scored 21 of his 32 points in the first quarter, and the Mavericks rode a hot start to a 137-96 rout of the Memphis Grizzlies.

German Maxi Kleber added nine points and eight rebounds, and Greek-American Tyler Dorsey had nine points in just four minutes of action.

The Boston Celtics beat the Orlando Magic 126-120. Despite the loss Italian-American rookie Paolo Banchero had 23 and German Franz Wagner added 18 for the losing side.

In the rest of last night’s games:

Philadelphia – San Antonio 105-114 (Poelt 13 p. Sochan 1 p.)
Indiana – Detroit 124-115 (Bitadze 14 p. 15 r. – Bogdanovic 16 p.)
Chicago – Cleveland 96-128 (Vucevic 16 p. Dragic 4 p. – Osman 15 p.)
Sacramento – LA Clippers 109-111 (Sabonis 11 p. 10 r. 7 as. – Zubac 10 p. 8 r. Batum 7 p.)
Miami – Toronto 112-109

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