Damian Lillard scored 34 points and Giannis Antetokounmpo added 32 to lead the host Milwaukee Bucks to a 137-107 win over the significantly short-handed Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night.
Milwaukee has won four straight games and eight of its last nine. AJ Green added 18 points and Kevin Porter Jr. had 10 points, 11 rebounds and 14 assists off the bench for his first triple-double of the season.
Dallas lost its third straight game and fifth in its last six. With nine players ruled out of this game and just eight available, Klay Thompson led the way with 28 points, followed by 15 from Naji Marshall. The latter added 10 rebounds.
Both teams came out firing in the first quarter. Antetokounmpo and Lillard scored the first 20 points for the Bucks, who led 40-29 going into the second.
In the second, Milwaukee gained some more separation with efficient shooting and went into halftime up 72-53.
Lillard had 26 points in the half for the Bucks, and Thompson had 15 for Dallas.
Milwaukee outscored Dallas 34-26 to take a 106-79 lead into the fourth quarter. Along the way, Antetokounmpo hit a key milestone, surpassing 20,000 career points. He is the sixth-youngest player in NBA history to reach that mark behind LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan.
To start the fourth, Porter led the group off the bench and clinched his triple-double with a fadeaway jumper and two free-throws. The Bucks’ 137 points were a season high and they shot 58.4 percent from the floor. The Mavericks shot 43.5 percent.
Milwaukee beat Dallas for the sixth straight time, encompassing three straight season series.
–Field Level Media
Payton Pritchard scored a career-high 43 points and Derrick White tossed in a career-high 41 to lead the short-handed Boston Celtics to a 128-118 victory over the visiting Portland Trail…
Jaemyn Brakefield’s tiebreaking putback with 7.5 seconds left capped a massive second-half performance as Ole Miss stunned No. 4 Tennessee 78-76 on Wednesday in Oxford, Miss. After Tennessee’s Igor Milicic…
James Harden scored a season-high 50 points and Ivica Zubac added 22 points with 11 rebounds as the short-handed Los Angeles Clippers celebrated their return home with a 123-115 victory…
Top 25 roundup: Ole Miss pulls off late upset of No. 4 Tennessee
James Harden pours in 50 to propel Clippers past Pistons
USC blows out Washington in hunt to lock up tourney berth
Hot-shooting Shai Gilgeous-Alexander carries Thunder past Grizzlies