Page 22 - aruba-today-20190424

A22 sports
Wednesday 24 april 2019
Antetokounmpo scores 41,

leads Bucks to sweep of Pistons

By NOAH TRISTER
AP Sports Writer
DETROIT (AP) — Giannis An-
tetokounmpo drove to the
basket and drew yet an-
other foul, this one a hard
hack on the arm by Blake
Griffin.
Griffin fouled out and
headed to the bench, and
the home crowd gave him
a standing ovation. Then
many fans headed toward
the exits.
Antetokounmpo and the
Milwaukee Bucks were on
their way to another rout
against Detroit. In this Jan. 24, 2019, file photo, Phoenix Suns head coach
Antetokounmpo scored 41 Igor Kokoskov watches during the second half of an NBA
basketball game against the Portland Trail Blazers.
points, and the Bucks beat Associated Press
Detroit 127-104 on Monday
night, completing a four- Suns fire Igor
game sweep of the Pistons
and advancing to the sec- Kokoskov after
ond round of the playoffs
for the first time since 2001. 1 losing season
The last time Milwaukee
won a postseason series, By JOHN MARSHALL
the Bucks made it all the AP Sports Writer
way to the conference fi- Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) is fouled PHOENIX (AP) — One season was not enough for Igor
nals. This year’s team isn’t by Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond (0) during the first Kokoskov to convince the Phoenix Suns that he was
there yet, but so far Mil- half of Game 4 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series, the man to lead the franchise into the future.
waukee looks the part of Monday, April 22, 2019, in Detroit. The Suns fired Kokoskov Monday night, ending the
the top seed in the East. Associated Press tenure of the NBA’s first European-born coach after
“I remember our first play- series with knee problems. ry over the Houston Rockets one disappointing season.
off series (in 2015),” Ante- “Blake played his heart out in Game 4 of their Western “After extensive evaluation, I determined it is best to
tokounmpo said. “Chica- with basically one leg,” Conference series on Mon- move in a different direction with our head coaching
go, the last game, Game 6, said Pistons coach Dwane day night. position,” Suns GM James Jones said in a statement.
they beat us by 50 or some- Casey, whose voice was Mitchell scored 19 of his 31 “I want to thank Igor for his work this past season and
thing insane. But where we hoarse at his postgame points in the final quarter to wish him the best with his future endeavors.”
were and where we are news conference. “He help the Jazz pull away for Kokoskov arrived in the desert with hopes of rebuilding
right now, it’s been an un- fought through a lot of their first win in the series. a franchise coming off its second-worst record at 21-
believable journey.” pain, swelling.” Utah staved off elimination 61. He was hired to replace Jay Triano, named interim
Milwaukee closed the third Griffin was on the bench for and forced a Game 5 on coach after Earl Watson was fired last season.
quarter with a 17-3 run, tak- much of Milwaukee’s cru- Wednesday. The Suns entered the 2018-19 season with one of the
ing a 10-point lead into the cial run. He sat for the final Mitchell’s late-game per- NBA’s most dynamic scorers in Devin Booker and add-
fourth after the Pistons had 4:35 of the third. Antetok- formance helped the ed the No. 1 overall pick of the 2018 draft, big man
led much of the way. De- ounmpo scored 16 points in second-year guard make Deandre Ayton.
troit set an NBA record with that quarter, half of which up for struggles earlier. He Instead of a revitalizing season, the Suns continued
its 14th consecutive playoff came on free throws. turned the ball over twice to mire in mediocrity, missing the playoffs for the ninth
loss, a skid that began in Detroit led 20-8 early on in the first two minutes and straight season.
2008. after a dunk by Griffin. The shot just 36 percent from Phoenix had a franchise-worst 17-game losing streak
The Bucks will face Boston Pistons were up 62-56 at the field in the first three in 2018-19 and became the first team in the shot-clock
in the second round. The halftime but still couldn’t quarters before going 6 of era (1954-55) to be held under 10 points in the first
Celtics are coming off a prevent a fourth straight 12 in the fourth. quarter of consecutive games.
sweep of their own against blowout at the hands of Mitchell never lost confi- The Suns finished 19-63 in Kokoskov’s only season in the
Indiana. the team that had the dence that he could turn it desert, worst in the Western Conference.
“I think it’s important that NBA’s best regular-season around. Jones became the full-time GM after the Suns re-
we take a second tonight. record. Milwaukee won the Jae Crowder scored 23 moved the interim tag earlier this month and his first
Enjoy it,” Bucks coach Mike four games by a total of 95 points. Ricky Rubio chipped big move was to fire Kokoskov, an assistant with the
Budenholzer said. “It’s a points, and no game was in 18 points and 11 assists franchise from 2008-13.
good night for Milwaukee. closer than 16. and Derrick Favors finished Now, Phoenix is in limbo again, searching for its fifth
It’s a good night for the UTAH 107, HOUSTON 91 with 12 points and 11 re- coach in five seasons.
Bucks.” SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — bounds. The Serbian Kokoskov spent 18 seasons as an NBA
Reggie Jackson scored 20 Donovan Mitchell turned a James Harden scored assistant before becoming a head coach, including
of his 26 points in the first half rough start into a fantastic 30 points to lead Hous- stints with Utah, Orlando Cleveland, Detroit and the
for Detroit. Griffin fouled out finish. ton. Chris Paul added 23 Los Angeles Clippers. He also was the head coach of
with 7:06 remaining after Mitchell dominated in the points, eight rebounds and the Georgia national team from 2008-15 and led Slo-
scoring 22. Griffin missed fourth quarter, rallying the seven assists. Eric Gordon venia to its first EuroBasket title in 2017.q
the first two games of the Utah Jazz to a 107-91 victo- chipped in 16 points.q