Damian Lillard scored 13 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter on Thursday and had two late steals as the Milwaukee Bucks rebounded from a loss to NBA leaders Boston with a 115-108 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.
Lillard added 12 assists and Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee’s two-time NBA MVP, returned from a two-game injury absence to score 21 points with nine rebounds and five assists to help the Bucks win a victory on the second night of a return match. -back.
Lillard was key on both ends of the court. It was tied at 96-96 with less than five minutes remaining when he knocked the ball away from Brooklyn guard Cam Thomas, launching a fast break capped by a three-point play from Antetokounmpo.
Photo: AP
Milwaukee led 103-101 with 1 minute, 41 seconds left when Lillard came up with another steal and found Malik Beasley for a three-pointer.
Lillard scored a three-pointer of his own with 1:11 left and his triple with 41 seconds left pushed Milwaukee’s lead to 10 points.
“Dame, defensively, was phenomenal — the whole game,” Milwaukee coach Doc Rivers said. “He’s a very competitive guy and we got to see that tonight.”
Photo: Isaiah J. Downing-USA Today
Antetokounmpo, who had missed two games with hamstring issues, scored nine points in the first quarter as the Bucks took a 26-19 lead. They led by as many as 20 points in the first half before the Nets, led by 24 points from Mikal Bridges, came back.
“I like the way we came together,” Rivers said. “They took the lead, we came back and we stopped. We didn’t play well at the start of the third.
“In the first half, the ball was bouncing. It was beautiful, and then we kind of went back to that hold-the-ball, no-movement style,” Rivers added. “We had to play ourselves through this.”
The defending champion Denver Nuggets continued their late-season surge with a 113-100 home win over the New York Knicks, while Luka Doncic and the Mavericks put on a show in a 113- 97 against the Utah Jazz in Dallas.
Michael Porter Jr connected on 13 of 16 shots to score 31 points for Denver, his highlight night including an alley-oop pass to himself off the glass.
Nikola Jokic recorded his 22nd triple-double of the season with 30 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists.
The Nuggets, 13-2 since the All-Star break, are neck and neck with the Oklahoma City Thunder in the race for first place in the West.
“I think we all collectively realize we’re not going to be able to do it in the playoffs, so we’re trying to find our rhythm, get our rhythm going before that,” Porter said of the Nuggets’ sense of urgency.
Denver was also eager to avenge an embarrassing 38-point loss to the Knicks at Madison Square Garden in January.
“We felt like we owed them the last game in New York,” Porter said.
Jalen Brunson scored 26 points for the Knicks, who cut their 12-point deficit to two in the fourth quarter before Denver coach Michael Malone fired his starters and the Nuggets pulled away.
In Dallas, Doncic scored 34 points with nine rebounds and eight assists as the Mavs threw down 18 dunks en route to a third straight victory.
In Orlando, Florida, Magic forward Paolo Banchero scored 20 points with 10 rebounds and 11 assists, his second career triple-double helping the hosts to a 121-106 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.
The Magic won their fifth straight victory.
In addition to absorbing the loss, the Pelicans saw forward Brandon Ingram leave early in the second half with an apparent knee injury.
Elsewhere, the Rockets bullied the Bulls 127-117 and the Wizards crushed the Kings 109-102.
Additional reports from the editor
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