WASHINGTON (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 42 points on 20-of-23 shooting, and the Milwaukee Bucks won their fifth consecutive game, 142-129 over the Washington Wizards on Monday night.
Washington dropped its sixth straight, but not without putting up a decent fight against the star-studded Bucks.
Antetokounmpo shot 87.0% from the field, the highest mark in a game by a player with at least 20 attempts since Mike Woodson of the Kansas City Kings went 22 of 24 (91.7%) in a 48-point effort against the Houston Rockets on Feb. 20, 1983. Antetokounmpo also contributed 13 rebounds and eight assists.
Jordan Poole scored 30 points for Washington, and Kyle Kuzma added 22 points and 13 assists.
Damian Lillard scored 22 points for the Bucks. Khris Middleton scored 18 to move past Sidney Moncrief and into fourth place on Milwaukee’s career scoring list.
NUGGETS 107, PISTONS 103
DETROIT (AP) — Reggie Jackson scored 21 points and carried Denver in the fourth quarter after two-time MVP Nikola Jokic was ejected in the first half, and the Nuggets handed Detroit its 12th straight loss.
Jackson had eight points and three assists in the final period as he and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (20 points) shined against their former team. Michael Porter Jr. finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds for the defending NBA champion Nuggets (10-4).
Jokic and Denver coach Michael Malone were ejected after arguing calls. Malone was thrown out for coming onto the court to dispute a call late in the first quarter, and Jokic was tossed for picking up a second technical with 1:22 left in the second period.
Jokic finished with nine points, five rebounds and five assists in 15 minutes.
Cade Cunningham had 27 points and nine assists for the Pistons (2-13), while Marvin Bagley III finished with 18 points.
HORNETS 121, CELTICS 118, OT
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Miles Bridges hit a 3-pointer with 6.6 seconds left in overtime and Charlotte beat Boston to snap a six-game home losing streak.
LaMelo Ball finished with 36 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, and Gordon Hayward added 20 points for the Hornets, who battled back from an 18-point deficit.
Jayson Tatum finished with 45 points, but missed a free throw with 5.2 seconds left that would have tied the game after getting fouled on a 3-point shot. He had made the first two before the crucial miss.
Gordon Hayward made two free throws to put Charlotte back up by three points with 0.8 left, and Bridges stole the inbounds pass to seal the win.
Peyton Pritchard had 21 points on five 3s for Boston, which had its six game winning streak snapped.
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