Damian Lillard scored 14 of his 39 points in a sensational Bucks debut and Milwaukee recovered after blowing a 19-point lead in a 118-117 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday.

Liilard made all 17 of his free-throw attempts and set a record for the most points by a player in his Bucks debut, surpassing Terry Cummings’ 34 points in 1984.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 23 points and 15 rebounds as the Bucks won in Adrian Griffin’s head coaching debut.

Griffin was facing his former boss after spending the past five seasons as an assistant coach for the Toronto Raptors under Nick Nurse, who now coaches the 76ers.

Tyrese Maxey scored 31 points and Kelly Oubre Jr. had 27 for Philadelphia, which played without seven-time All-NBA guard James Harden, who hopes to be traded and was told not to accompany the team to Milwaukee.

Lillard spent his first 11 seasons in Portland and was dealt to the Bucks last month after requesting a trade.

His 3-pointer with 3:41 left put the Bucks ahead for good at 105-104, and he sank another 3 with 73 seconds remaining to make it 116-111.

Great start pic.twitter.com/KVKS85ycnx
— Giannis Antetokounmpo (@Giannis_An34) October 27, 2023

James takes over late in Lakers’ win

LeBron James scored 10 of his 21 points while playing the entire fourth quarter and the Los Angeles Lakers surged past the short-handed Phoenix Suns, 100-95.

Anthony Davis had 30 points and 13 rebounds for the Lakers, who rallied from a 12-point deficit entering the fourth quarter to earn their first win of the season.

Kevin Durant had 39 points and 11 rebounds for a Phoenix team without injured stars Devin Booker and Bradley Beal.

The Suns held an 84-72 lead entering the fourth quarter but missed 13 of their next 14 shots and committed 10 turnovers in the next 10 minutes.

#LakersWin pic.twitter.com/QpdyjrmiNS
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) October 27, 2023