Damian Lillard ended a six-game losing streak for the Milwaukee Bucks, and Victor Wembanyama was quiet in San Antonio’s NBA win over Portland on Thursday. After six consecutive defeats and a poor start to the season, the Milwaukee Bucks bounced back against the Utah Jazz, another team in great difficulty (123-100). Point guard Damian Lillard shone (34 points, 7 assists) alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo (31 points, 16 rebounds), who had missed the previous game, and offered some respite to their coach Doc Rivers. In a game of intermittent intensity, the San Antonio Spurs won their 4th game of the season (5 losses) against the Portland Trail Blazers (118-105).

Despite receiving more playing time than in recent weeks, Victor Wembanyama didn’t put in much of an appearance, with 12 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 blocks in 32 minutes. San Antonio played its fourth game without its iconic coach Gregg Popovich, who has been at the helm of the team since 1996, absent for health reasons without any details provided by the franchise. The Spurs had explained on Monday that Popovich would be absent for at least two games, but the 75-year-old American did not return for the third, at home. “He’s fine, I’ve talked to him, but I have to be vague on the subject, I don’t know.” evacuated his assistant Mitch Johnson, who took charge of the team.

San Antonio is still playing without fullback Devin Vassell, who will start his season in the next few days, and now without strong-winger Jeremy Sochan, who has suffered a fractured left thumb and is out indefinitely. The Minnesota Timberwolves, Western Conference finalists in the spring, came from behind to defeat the Chicago Bulls (135-119) thanks to an excellent fourth quarter (45-24). Anthony Edwards was once again unstoppable (33 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists) and French pivot Rudy Gobert put in his best offensive performance of the season with 21 points (9 rebounds, 3 assists).

Bronny James, son and teammate of Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, was sent to the franchise’s reserve team on Thursday, playing in the G League, the NBA’s developmental league. A young player (aged 20) selected 55th in the draft in June, Bronny James formed the first father-son duo on the same NBA court with LeBron at the start of the season, and will be moving back and forth between the NBA and the G League as expected to continue his progression.