Tuesday 20 November 2018 07:15, UK
Giannis Antetokounmpo recorded 29 points, 12 rebounds and six assists to lead the host Milwaukee Bucks to a 104-98 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night.
Eric Bledsoe added 23 points on 8-of-10 shooting for the Bucks. Malcolm Brogdon and Khris Middleton added 13 points apiece for Milwaukee, who have won consecutive games for the first time since a 7-0 start.
Nikola Jokic scored 20 points and Jamal Murray had 17 points, eight rebounds and nine assists for the Nuggets. Gary Harris scored 14 points, and Malik Beasley and Monte Morris tallied 12 and 10 respectively off the bench.
Denver have dropped six of seven games since beginning the season with a 9-1 stretch.
The Nuggets shot 42.6 per cent from the field, including 12 of 41 from 3-point range. Milwaukee shot 45.5 per cent from the field, including 11 of 36 from long range.
The Nuggets trailed by eight before Harris and Jokic hit back-to-back three-pointers to draw within 100-98 with 48.9 seconds left.
Middleton connected on a three-pointer to make it a five-point margin with 27.6 seconds remaining. Bledsoe split two free throws with 15.9 seconds left to close it out.
Milwaukee trailed by 10 at half-time before Antetokounmpo scored 15 points in the third quarter to help the Bucks edge ahead.
The Nuggets led 70-62 after two free throws by Paul Millsap before Milwaukee scored the next nine, taking the lead on Antetokounmpo's dunk with 1:59 left.
The Bucks led 78-77 entering the final stanza and later took an 86-83 edge when Ersan Ilyasova buried a three-pointer with 8:41 remaining.
Denver scored six of the next seven points to take a two-point edge before Brook Lopez and Bledsoe drained three-pointers during an 8-0 push that saw Milwaukee take a 95-89 advantage with 3:54 remaining.
Bledsoe fed Antetokounmpo for a dunk to increase Milwaukee's lead to 100-92 with 2:13 left.
Murray had 11 points in the first half as the Nuggets led 56-46 at the break. Denver opened up a 36-25 lead with an 11-0 burst that included the final four points of the opening quarter and first seven of the second.
The lead was expanded to 44-27 on Trey Lyles' basket with 7:49 remaining in the half.
Milwaukee cut the deficit to 10 at the half on a three-pointer by Lopez with 1.4 seconds remaining.
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