Giannis Antetokounmpo posted his fourth triple-double of the season and Damian Lillard scored 25 points to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a 128-104 NBA victory over the Toronto Raptors on Monday.
Antetokounmpo scored 11 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and kept the Bucks offense clicking with his season-high 13 assists as the Bucks snapped a two-game skid.
Milwaukee had lost four of their last five matches, with all of those defeats coming against teams with losing records. But they handled the 8-28 Raptors convincingly despite the absence of Khris Middleton with an ankle injury.
Bucks coach Doc Rivers said Antetokounmpo's passing -- including 10 assists in the first half -- "set the whole tone to our team."
"When your best player does that it becomes contagious and the ball just moved," Rivers said.
The only downside for the Bucks was a cut Antetokounmpo suffered on his right little finger when he hit the rim on a block attempt late in the first half.
Rivers said it required stitches to stop the bleeding, but Antetokounmpo wanted to stay in a game in which he and Lillard were both able to rest the entire fourth quarter anyway.
In Chicago, Zach LaVine scored 35 points with 10 rebounds and eight assists as the Bulls rallied from a 19-point third-quarter deficit to beat the San Antonio Spurs 114-110.
Coby White added 23 points, driving for a go-ahead layup then throwing down a dunk to put the Bulls up 113-110 with 15.9 seconds left, and LaVine adding a final free throw to close it out.
The Bulls withstood another standout performance from San Antonio star Victor Wembanyama, who had 23 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and eight blocked shots.
In Detroit, Cade Cunningham scored 32 points and handed out nine assists as the Pistons erased an early 22-point deficit to beat the Portland Trail Blazers 118-115.
Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 11 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter for Detroit, including a pair of back-to-back three-pointers that put the Pistons up 109-106 with less than three minutes to play.
Suns halt skid
Phoenix coach Mike Budenholzer's decision to shake up his starting lineup paid dividends in Philadelphia, where Bradley Beal came off the bench and scored 25 points to lead the Suns to a 109-99 victory over the short-handed 76ers.
With the Suns on a four-game losing streak, Budenholzer shifted Beal and Jusuf Nurkic to reserve roles. Phoenix trailed by as many as 12 points in the first quarter and were down by four at half time.
But Beal scored 20 points in the second half and the Suns bench out-scored the Sixers reserves 54-7 overall.
Tyrese Maxey scored 31 points and handed out 10 assists, and Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 26 points with 11 rebounds for Philadelphia, who were without Joel Embiid and Kyle Lowry.
The injury-ravaged Orlando Magic beat the suddenly struggling Knicks 103-94 in New York.
Cole Anthony scored 24 points and Wendell Carter Jr. came off the bench to score 19 for Orlando, who remain without their top four scorers in Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Jalen Suggs and Moritz Wagner.
Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges scored 24 points apiece for the Knicks, who lost their third straight on the heels of a nine-game winning streak.
In Memphis, Jaren Jackson scored 35 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead the Grizzlies in a 119-104 victory over the Dallas Mavericks, who were without Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving and dropped their fifth straight match.
The Sacramento Kings, fueled by 30 points from DeMar DeRozan and a triple-double of 21 points, 18 rebounds and 11 assists from Domantas Sabonis, rallied to beat the Miami Heat 123-118 in a double-overtime thriller.
Down by 17 with 8:07 left in regulation, the Kings tied it at 102-102 on a pair of Sabonis free-throws with 51 seconds left.
Both teams came up empty on their next possessions and they went to overtime. They traded the lead twice on the way to a second extra session -- in which DeRozan scored the Kings' last nine points.
With AFP
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