Bucks beat Heat to win group; Celtics, Knicks also advance in the In-Season Tournament
Tue, Nov 28, 2023
NBA News (AP)
MIAMI (AP) - Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 33 points, Damian Lillard added 32 and the Milwaukee Bucks rallied in the fourth quarter to beat the Miami Heat 131-124 on Tuesday night and clinch a home quarterfinal game in the NBA In-Season Tournament.
Khris Middleton scored 17, Malik Beasley had 16 and Brook Lopez added 12 for the Bucks, who won East Group B with a 4-0 record.
They'll host wild-card New York on either Dec. 4 or 5, with East Group C winner Boston going to Group A winner Indiana for the other quarterfinal before the Final Four in Las Vegas.
Bam Adebayo scored 31 points for the Heat, who got 21 from Kyle Lowry and 20 from Josh Richardson. Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Caleb Martin each scored 14 and Duncan Robinson added 13 for the Heat.
CELTICS 124, BULLS 97
BOSTON (AP) - Jaylen Brown scored 30 points, Jayson Tatum had 21 and Boston routed Chicago to advance to the quarterfinals of the NBA In-Season Tournament.
The Celtics won a three-team tiebreaker with Orlando and Brooklyn via point differential to take Group C and earn the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference. They will visit the No. 2 Indiana Pacers next week.
The Celtics made a season-high 21 3-pointers, getting four each from Al Horford and Jrue Holiday. All five Boston starters scored in double figures.
Horford finished with 16 points and nine rebounds. Holiday, who returned after missing two games with a sprained right ankle, had 14 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.
KNICKS 115, HORNETS 91
NEW YORK (AP) - Julius Randle had 25 points and 20 rebounds, RJ Barrett scored 16 points and New York advanced to the quarterfinals of the NBA In-Season Tournament with a victory over Charlotte.
The Knicks missed their chance to win Group B when the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Miami Heat to finish unbeaten in pool play. But the Knicks took the wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference by tiebreaker because of their point differential in the preliminary round.
The Knicks will visit the Bucks, the East's No. 1 seed, either Monday or Tuesday.
Reserves Immanuel Quickley scored 23 points and Josh Hart chipped in 17 as the New York bench outscored Charlotte's 50-35.
CAVALIERS 128, HAWKS 105
CLEVELAND (AP) - Donovan Mitchell scored 40 points, Evan Mobley added 17 points and a career-high 19 rebounds, and Cleveland completed pool play in the NBA In-Season Tournament with a win over Atlanta.
The Cavs finished 3-1 and in second place in East Group A. They had to win to have any chance of capturing a wild-card entry, but needed four other teams to lose and ultimately fell short of advancing by point differential.
Still, the Cavs are getting healthy and Mitchell had his best performance (14 of 25, 11 rebounds) in weeks and did it in a meaningful game - by regular-season standards. Darius Garland added 19 points.
De'Andre Hunter scored 18 for the Hawks, who went 1-3 in the tourney. Trae Young added 13 on 3-of-14 shooting and had 10 assists.
TIMBERWOLVES 106, THUNDER 103
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Rudy Gobert had 17 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks, reserve Troy Brown Jr. scored 17 points and Minnesota withstood an injury to Anthony Edwards to beat Oklahoma City in the NBA In-Season Tournament.
Edwards had 12 of his 21 points in the third quarter to lead the Timberwolves back from a deficit they faced for most of the first half, before landing hard on his right side during a dunk attempt and leaving the game in pain.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 32 points on 13-for-22 shooting for the Thunder. His 37-foot try to tie at the buzzer, his only 3-point attempt of the night, was well off the mark. Brown made one of two foul shots with 4.5 seconds left to give the Thunder an opening.
NETS 115, RAPTORS 103
NEW YORK (AP) - Spencer Dinwiddie scored 23 points to lead Brooklyn over Toronto Raptors to win its third straight, but was knocked out of the NBA In-Season Tournament.
Bridges was one of five players to finish in double-figure scoring for Brooklyn (9-8).
Mikal Bridges scored 22 points, Cam Johnson and Royce O'Neale had 18 apiece, and Nic Claxton chipped in with 15.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
"