Alex Caruso hit an epic fadeaway three-pointer to force overtime and the shorthanded Chicago Bulls took down the Milwaukee Bucks at home 120-113 on Friday (all times AEDT).
It saw Chicago snap a five-game losing streak to improve to 6-14, while it remarkably came without both Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan due to injury.
Clawing back a nine-point deficit early in the fourth, Bucks rallied hard down the stretch of regulation. Brook Lopez and Malik Beasley hit consecutive threes before Giannis Antetokounmpo’s free throws put the visitors ahead 106-103 with five seconds remaining.
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Caruso then got a dribble hand off from Nikola Vucevic and knocked down one of the biggest shots of his career as the final buzzer sounded to see the Bulls fans go wild and extend the game to an extra period.
Both sides traded buckets early in OT before a decisive play where Antetokounmpo met Ayo Dosunmu at the rim for a goaltend to give the Bulls a 1130-10 lead with 1:14 on the clock.
Milwaukee missed multiple shots at the other end, while the Bulls iced the game with two Vucevic free throws and a Pat Williams dunk.
Antetokounmpo shook off a slow start — he scored just four points in the first half — to lead the Bucks with 26 points and 14 rebounds. Brook Lopez scored 20, Malik Beasley added 19 and Damian Lillard had 18 for the Bucks.
With it, the Bucks’ three-game winning streak came to end as Adrian Girffin’s side fell to 13-6.
PISTONS WINLESS IN NOVEMBER AFTER 16TH-STRAIGHT LOSS
Just when it seemed like things couldn’t get any worse for the Detroit Pistons, they have.
Monty Williams’ squad’s 118-112 defeat to the New York Knicks on Friday saw it its losing streak extend to 16 — including all 15 of their games in November. It also marked New York’s 12th-straight win over the Detroit.
It came in a game the Pistons made two changes to their starting line-up, with Isaiah Livers and Killian Hayes replacing Ausar Thompson and Jaden Ivey.
While it was clearly a desperate bid to find a spark, the changes came under scrutiny from the NBA world on social media — in particular Thompson’s demotion given the Pick 5 draftee had been one of the standout rookies this season.
But it didn’t yield the result the struggling Pistons were after as their horror start to the season continued, with the team’s NBA-worst record sliding to 2-17.
Detroit played with much more fight until the final buzzer in this one and even led 93-91 with 9:45 left in the fourth after Thompson’s three.
But the Knicks responded with a Donte DiVincenzo triple and Josh Hart layup to go back up 97-93 with 8:31 to play and regain momentum.
DiVincenzo hit consecutive threes inside the last five minutes and Julius Randle made two crucial buckets to push New York’s lead out to nine with 1:33 remaining to seal the win.
Brunson (42 points, eight assists) and Randle (29 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists) led the now 11-7 Knicks sensationally, while Cade Cuningham topscored for Detroit with 31.
ELSESEWHERE …
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 33 points to propel the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 113-110 NBA victory over LeBron James and the weary Los Angeles Lakers.
Gilgeous-Alexander connected on 11-of -8 shots from the field and made all 10 of his free throws.
Jalen Williams scored 21 points and rookie center Chet Holmgren added 18 for the Thunder, who had seven players score in double figures.
Anthony Davis led Los Angeles with 31 points and 14 rebounds. James had 21 points, 12 rebounds and six assists for the Lakers, who led by as many as 14 points in the first half but couldn’t keep the pressure on in the second night of a back-to-back and with a bevy of players nursing injuries.
Oklahoma City out-scored Los Angeles 42-23 in the second quarter to lead 72-60 at halftime and never trailed the rest of the way.
“I thought we played really good ball the first quarter,” James said.
“But after that you could start seeing the three in four (nights), back-to-back, the bodies that we don’t have started to wear on us… especially versus a young team like OKC.”
Miami’s Jimmy Butler returned from a two-game injury absence and scored 24 of his 36 points in the second half to help the Heat rally for a 142-132 victory over the Indiana Pacers.
Butler grabbed 10 rebounds and rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr scored 24 points off the bench as the Heat withstood a 44-point performance from Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton. The Heat trailed until the fourth quarter, but out-scored the Pacers 45-32 in the final frame.
Kings topple Warriors for Group C throne | 00:57
The Charlotte Hornets, who confirmed Thursday that LaMelo Ball will miss significant time with a sprained right ankle, got a morale-boosting 129-128 victory over the Nets in Brooklyn.
Terry Rozier scored 37 points for the Hornets, his step-back basket with 39.9 seconds remaining putting Charlotte up 129-126. Nic Claxton managed to cut the deficit with a layup, but Cam Johnson came up empty on a three-point attempt in the waning seconds and the Hornets escaped with the win..
San Antonio’s skid continued, too, the Spurs dropping their 13th straight — 137-135 to the Atlanta Hawks.Trae Young scored a season-high 45 points for the Hawks. Jeremy Sochan scored 33 for San Antonio and rookie Victor Wembanyama added 21 points 12 rebounds and four blocked shots in the defeat.
The Portland Trail Blazers, trailing by as many as 16 points in the first half, came alive after the break to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 103-95.Shaedon Sharpe scored 20 of his 29 points in the second half, Jerami Grant added 13 points and rookie Duop Reath chipped in 13 off the bench to help Portland mount their comeback.
ALL RESULTS
TRAIL BLAZERS 103 CAVALIERS 95
PISTONS 112 KNICKS 118
PACERS 132 HEAT 142
HORNETS 129 NETS 128
HAWKS 137 SPURS 135
LAKERS 110 THUNDER 133
JAZZ 90 TIMBERWOLVES 101
BUCKS 113 BULLS 120
CLIPPERS 114 WARRIORS 120
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