LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Damian Lillard scored 30 points and Giannis Antetokounmpo added 25 as the Milwaukee Bucks rolled to a 124-109 victory over the injury-depleted Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday in the National Basketball Association (NBA) season-opener for both teams.
The Sixers, without Joel Embiid and off-season acquisition Paul George, couldn’t keep pace with the Bucks, who had 16 points from Taurean Prince and 16 off the bench from Bobby Portis.
Embiid, the Cameroon-born big man who helped the United States to Olympic gold in Paris, missed all of the pre-season as part of the management plan for his surgically repaired left knee.
The Sixers said Tuesday he will miss the first week of the regular season while George, a nine-time All-Star, had his Philadelphia debut delayed by a pre-season bone bruise in his left knee.
A strong start from Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey and an energetic attack of the offensive glass saw the Sixers take a one-point lead after the opening quarter.
But Lillard and the Bucks found their groove. His three-pointer midway through the second quarter giving Milwaukee a 36-33 lead and his driving finger-roll layup pushing the advantage to 58-45 with 33.4 seconds left in the first half.
Milwaukee led 58-47 at halftime and pushed the advantage to as many as 22 after the break.
Two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Antetokounmpo showed no sign of the knee tendinitis that’s been troubling him, adding 14 rebounds and seven assists.
In other games on Wednesday, Kevin Durant scored 25 points to lead the Phoenix Suns to a 116-113 overtime victory against the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Clippers were playing their first regular season fixture in their new state-of-the-art Intuit Dome arena.