WASHINGTON: Damian Lillard scored 37 points to lead Milwaukee to victory at Miami 106-103 in the NBA Cup on Tuesday despite playing without Giannis Antetokounmpo due to a knee injury. Lillard hit 10-of-17 from the floor and 8-of-13 from 3-point range while passing off 12 assists as the Bucks improved to 3-0 in group play while the Heat slid to 1-2 and never led. “It’s a game of runs. I got off to a hot start,” Lillard said. “I didn’t try to force the issue. I didn’t want to be passive. I tried to stay aggressive. I was getting the ball out. We just made good plays.”

All 30 league clubs play for the NBA Cup in an in-season tournament with teams divided into six groups of five for round-robin play in hopes of advancing to December knockout rounds with games also counting in the regular-season standings. The Houston Rockets qualified for the quarter-finals but the surprise was in Miami, where Greek star Antetokounmpo was a late scratch with a left knee injury, leaving Lillard to take the scoring load. A 26-9 Heat run to end the third quarter cut a 22-point Milwaukee lead to 85-80 entering the fourth and a 16-7 Miami run lifted the hosts level at 96-96 with 4:02 to play.

Milwaukee’s AJ Green and Miami’s Terry Rozier traded 3-pointers late, the last by Rozier lifting the Heat within 104-103 with 30 seconds remaining. Green sank another 3-pointer but it was launched just after a shot-clock violation and wiped out, giving Miami the ball with five seconds to play. Miami’s Tyler Herro missed a 3-point shot and Milwaukee’s Taurean Prince sank two free throws with 1.2 seconds left, setting the stage for a Rozier 3-point miss at the buzzer.

“Guys made shots, played aggressive, we got some stops when we needed it, we made some free throws and that’s what it takes to win close games,” Lillard said. “We’ve just had a lot of experience in these games where we have lulls in the second half and get into a dogfight. We let a few go early in the season... everybody wants to improve. We want to get right from the jump and I think we’re starting to show that down the stretch in these games.”

Jimmy Butler led Miami with 23 points. Houston became the second team to clinch an NBA Cup quarter-final berth, winning 115-111 in overtime at Minnesota to seal the West Group A crown. Golden State has already sealed the West Group C title. Turkish center Alperen Sengun had a triple double with 22 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists to spark Houston, which got 27 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds from Fred VanVleet and 22 points from Dillon Brooks.

Suns beat Lakers

Reserve Amen Thompson’s basket with 38 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter lifted Houston level at 102-102. Thompson sank a 3-pointer to ignite an 11-0 Houston overtime run as baskets by Jabari Smith, Brooks and two from Sengun brought the Rockets a 113-105 lead with 54 seconds remaining. The Timberwolves, led by 29 points from Anthony Edwards, never got within four after that. French star Victor Wembanyama scored 24 of his game-high 34 points in the first half to spark the San Antonio Spurs to a 128-115 victory at Utah, eliminating the Jazz’s title hopes.

Phoenix stars Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal returned from calf strains to spark the Suns over the defending NBA Cup champion Los Angeles Lakers 127-100. Devin Booker had 26 points and 10 assists to lead the Suns while Beal and Durant each added 23 points in their comeback contests. “Felt great,” Durant said. “We needed this win. Long as we continue to be healthy we’ll be fine.” Anthony Davis led the Lakers with 25 points and 15 rebounds while LeBron James had 18 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds in the first Cup loss ever for the Lakers. A 22-6 run gave the Suns a 98-78 lead entering the fourth quarter and the Lakers never threatened again. Chicago’s Coby White scored 21 points and Nikola Vucevic added 19 points and 12 rebounds to power the Bulls over host Washington 127-108. — AFP