By John Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
All three home teams secured a 2-0 lead in their first-round NBA playoffs series on Wednesday. The Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Detroit Pistons, 120-99, behind Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 26-point, 12-rebound double-double. The Greek Freak scored 13 of his points during the third quarter including his team’s first seven in the second half.
James Harden was in triple-double mode and the Houston Rockets beat the Utah Jazz, 118-98, to fully protect their home-court in the top end of the best-of-seven series. Clint Capela helped out with 7 points and Isaiah Hartenstein with 4. Ricky Rubio had 17 points and Rudy Gobert finished with an 11-point, 12-rebound double-double for the losing side.
Bojan Bogdanovic scored a team-high 23 points, but the Indiana Pacers fell in a 2-0 hole after the 99-91 loss by the Boston Celtics at the TD Garden. Fellow European Domantas Sabonis was held to one point. The winning side’s Daniel Theis finished with four.
Results and European action:
| Boston Celtics – Indiana Pacers | 99-91 | Theis 4pts, 2reb, 1stl, Yabusele DNP – Boj. Bogdanovic 23pts, 8reb, 3ast, 4stl, Sabonis 1pt, 5reb, 5ast, 2stl |
| Milwaukee Bucks – Detroit Pistons | 120-99 | G. Antetokounmpo 26pts, 12reb, 4ast, 2blk, Ilyasova 3pts, 10reb, 4ast, 1blk, Mirotic 2pts, 3reb, 1ast, P. Gasol OUT – Calderon 0pts, Pachulia DNP, Mykhailiuk OUT |
| Houston Rockets – Utah Jazz | 118-98 | Capela 7pts, 10reb, 1ast, 1stl, 3blk, Hartenstein 4pts, 1reb – Rubio 17pts, 4reb, 9ast, 4stl, Gobert 11pts, 12reb, 1ast, 2stl, Sefolosha 4reb, 1ast, Mitrou-Long OUT |