Damian Lillard scored 35 points and Giannis Antetokounmpo added 34 to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a 124-117 win against the Clippers in Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon.
Lillard and Antetokounmpo each finished with seven rebounds and double digits in assists. Malik Beasley added 17 points.
With Paul George and Kawhi Leonard out with injuries, the Clippers were led by Norman Powell with 26 points. Ivica Zubac added 18 and Amir Coffey scored 16 while grabbing 10 rebounds.
There was little separation by either team in the first half. With 17 lead changes and the largest advantage for either side being seven points, the game was tight until halftime despite Milwaukee going on a 21-10 run in the middle of the second period.
Los Angeles went on an 8-0 spurt toward the end of the second and went into halftime with a 62-59 advantage.
Antetokounmpo had 14 points for Milwaukee at the break while Zubac led Los Angeles with 12. The Clippers shot just 27.3 percent from beyond the arc compared with Milwaukee’s 50 percent.
Milwaukee used the third quarter to gain a slight edge. A 13-3 run put the Bucks up 88-80, and they won the quarter 32-23.
The fourth quarter started poorly for Milwaukee, however. The Clippers immediately went on an 8-0 run to tie the score. From there, it went back to the back-and-forth affair it was in the first half.
The dagger for Milwaukee came from Lillard with 1:19 to go. The star hit a deep, step-back 3-pointer to give Milwaukee a 119-109 advantage. Lillard scored 16 points in the fourth quarter.
The Bucks snapped their two-game losing streak on this California road trip while ending Los Angeles’ two-game winning streak.
–Field Level Media
