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Los Angeles: The Philadelphia 76ers and star James Harden stopped a series of 16 victories for the Milwaukee Bucks by defeating them in an exciting match 133-130 in the NBA.
Philadelphia, the third in the eastern region, succeeded in turning the tables on leaders Milwaukee, who advanced by 18 points in the third quarter, thanks to the brilliance of Harden, who scored 38 points in the match, including 21 in the fourth quarter, to give his team victory, and he also succeeded in 10 assists and 9 rebounds.
Harden regained his scoring appetite, which made him the league’s top scorer for three consecutive seasons (2018, 2019, and 2020) when he was with the Houston Rockets, and made his best match in a long time.
Joel Amped, with 31 points, and Tyrese Maxi, with 26 points, also contributed to the Sixers victory.
Ambid praised his colleague Harden, saying, “He was wonderful in every sense of the word, scoring basket after basket at crucial times. He was really the real James Harden.”
On the other hand, the Greek star Yannis Antetokounmpo was the top scorer in the ranks of Milwaukee with 34 points and succeeded in 13 rebounds, and Brook Lopez and Gro Holiday added 26 points.
Milwaukee led by 18 points (95-77) two minutes and 41 seconds before the end of the third quarter, before the Sixers narrowed the difference to 14 at its end. The Sixers hit hard in the fourth quarter, as they started it by scoring 15 points compared to only two points for their opponent, before ending it with 48 points compared to only 31 for their opponent to settle the score in their favour.
The end of the match was exciting because Milwaukee remained ahead by a narrow margin with less than two minutes left in the last quarter, but Harden managed to score a hat-trick, reducing the difference to one point (125-124) and then passed a decisive ball to Amped, who in turn scored a hat-trick that gave his team the lead 127-125 before End in 42 seconds.
Milwaukee remained at the top of the Eastern Group with a record of 45 wins against 18 defeats, while Philadelphia raised its tally to 41 wins against 22 losses in third place.
A “very important” win for Miami
The Miami Heat boosted its hopes of participating in the playoff matches by defeating the Atlanta Hawks 117-109, thanks to 30 points for Bam Adebayo, and teammate Tyler Hero added 20 points.
Miami coach Eric Spoelstra described his team’s victory as “very important,” especially since it came after his team fell at home to the New York Knicks in its last match.
The Cleveland Cavaliers achieved an easy victory over the Detroit Pistons 114-90, thanks to 21 and 20 points for the duo Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell, respectively, while five players from Cleveland ended the match by scoring more than 10 points, inflicting the sixth loss in a row in the Pistons.
The Toronto Raptors also beat Washington Wizards 116-109 in a match in which Fred Vanfleet scored 25 points, including 6 triples, while substitute Gary Trent Jr. added 26 points.
The Minnesota Timberwolves won their third successive victory over the Sacramento Kings 138-134 in an even match.
Anthony Edwards was the best scorer in the ranks of the winner (27 points).
The injured Houston Rockets also achieved their first victory after 11 consecutive defeats, after defeating San Antonio 122-110.
