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SPORTS Saturday 23 November 2019

Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo shoots over Portland
Trail Blazers’ Carmelo Anthony during the first half of an NBA
basketball game Thursday, Nov. 21, 2019, in Milwaukee.
Associated Press
Bucks beat Trail Blazers

Continued from Page 17
WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder, left, and Luis Ortiz pose during a final news
... He found some guys, they made some 3s, kind of conference at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2019.
opened the game up." Associated Press
reer-high 15 assists to lead the Bucks to their seventh win Deontay Wilder rolls the dice
Antetokounmpo had 24 points, 19 rebounds and a ca-

"I couldn't get going offensively," Antetokounmpo said. in Las Vegas fight with Ortiz
in the last nine games against Portland.
"Shots weren't falling and they were showing a lot of By TIM DAHLBERG “The heavyweight division is strong and
crowds. I tried to find my teammates and they were in the AP Boxing Writer back and Deontay Wilder is definitely
right spots. They were able to knock down shots and to LAS VEGAS (AP) — Deontay Wilder is the one bringing the excitement to it,’’
roll hard. I just did half of the work and my teammates did rolling the dice in a city where a good Wilder said.
the rest."Antetokounmpo, who also had a triple-double in gamble can quickly go bad. Just why Wilder is fighting Ortiz again in-
the season opener, became the first player in franchise Beat Luis Ortiz on Saturday and a lucra- stead of a less risky bout is mainly about
history to record a game with 20 points, 15 rebounds and tive rematch with Tyson Fury in February the money. The fight will be on Fox pay-
15 assists. The 6-foot-11 forward has 16 career triple-dou- can’t come soon enough. Walk into the per-view (suggested price $74.99), giv-
bles. Milwaukee is 14-2 in those games. wrong end of a big right hand, though, ing Wilder a chance to make far more
Eric Bledsoe added 30 points and six assists in the Bucks' and any plans to dominate the heavy- than the $2.1 million he got to stop Or-
highest-scoring game of the season. weight division will have to be drastically tiz in the 10th round of their first fight in
After scoring 10 points on 4-of-14 shooting in 24 minutes revised. March 2018.
in his season debut Tuesday night against the Pelicans, It almost happened when the two first Ortiz will get a nice payday, too, and a
Anthony had 10 points in the first half Thursday. Anthony met last year. The way Ortiz hits, there’s chance to finish off what he couldn’t in
finished with 18 points (6-of-15 shooting) and seven re- no guarantee it won’t happen now. the first fight when he had Wilder out on
bounds for the Trail Blazers, who were without Hassan Wh- Unfortunately for boxing fans, they’ll his feet in the seventh round but couldn’t
iteside (hip), Damian Lillard (back), Zach Collins (shoul- have to buy the pay-per-view to find out put him away.
der) and Jusuf Nurkic (leg). in real time. “I was going to finish him and the fight
"He's getting his sea legs after having that year off," Port- “He is one of the most dangerous fight- was over basically,’’ Ortiz said. “I haven’t
land guard CJ McCollum said about Anthony. "Getting ers in the division, period,’’ Wilder said. had any other situation like that where I
used to that movement, getting used to how the game “That’s why so many guys don’t want to hadn’t gotten a knockout in a scenario
is flowing." fight him.’’ like that. So it’s just a matter of putting
McCollum scored 37 points and Skal Labissiere added 22 Wilder is a 7-1 favorite to beat the some punches together and winning
points, 12 rebounds and five blocks for Portland. The Trail 40-year-old Cuban and retain the piece this fight.’’
Blazers lost their third straight game overall and their sixth of the heavyweight title in the fight at That Ortiz has the power to stop any
straight in Milwaukee. the MGM Grand Garden arena. It will heavyweight is not in dispute. The loss
The Bucks made their first seven shots, including three 3s, be the 10th title defense for the erratic to Wilder is the only blemish on a 31-1
and led 17-6. Milwaukee never trailed. but big-punching Wilder, who is count- record with 26 knockouts in a career
The Bucks also had their highest first-half total, leading 72- ing on a win to keep his scheduled Feb. that began in 2010 after he left Cuba to
58. 23 date against Fury. make his fortune in professional boxing.
The Blazers used a 40-point third quarter to close the gap “Where I’ve got to go is through Ortiz But he’s stocky and relatively slow and
and pulled within 117-115 with just over 7:00 play. But and straight to Fury,’’ Wilder said. “My doesn’t have a signature win on his re-
Brook Lopez and Wes Matthews hit back-to-back 3s to schedule is packed with a lot of fun in cord. And though Ortiz claims to be 40,
seal the Bucks victory. the heavyweight division. Fights people there are some in boxing who believe
"I thought we competed," McCollum said. "I thought we want to see.’’ he may be older than he says.
played hard. Obviously, we came up short. But I thought Wilder (41-0-1, 40 knockouts) puts his un- Still, he has three straight wins since suf-
it was a step in the right direction." beaten record on the line in a heavy- fering his only loss and is determined to
Milwaukee made 21 of 26 free throws against 12 of 14 for weight bout that is the first of three make good in what might be his last real
the Trail Blazers and outrebounded Portland 58-41. planned fights in upcoming months chance at a heavyweight title.
"Keep in mind, their starting center (Lopez) didn't even that will say a lot about the state of the “You absolutely never know what Wild-
get a rebound," Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. "So heavyweight division. er is going to do as far as how he ap-
they did all that rebounding without even their center Two weeks later, Anthony Joshua tries proaches his fights,’’ Ortiz said. “But one
getting it. So they got them from a lot of different posi- to regain his title from Anthony Ruiz Jr. thing for sure is that both mentally and
tions. We have to be aware of it. We can't assume that in Saudi Arabia, and, assuming Wilder physically I’m at my best and prepared.
anybody else is going to get it. We don't have one guy wins against Ortiz, he will face the former So he can bring whatever he is going to
that's going to go snatch all the rebounds. We gotta do it champion Fury in February. bring.’’q
with five guys."q