Bucks hold off Celtics, 98-97

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 12 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter, Khris Middleton hit a 3-pointer in the closing seconds and the NBA-leading Milwaukee Bucks held off the Boston Celtics 98-97 on Thursday night.

On the second-to-last position, Marcus Smart forced a jump ball with Antetokounmpo. Antetokounmpo tipped the jump to Brook Lopez, who deflected it toward the basket, but missed as the shot clock expired.

The referees huddled during the timeout and put 3.5 seconds on the clock for the Celtics.

Smart inbounded the ball over the towering Lopez and dropped a pass into Kyrie Irving’s hands at the top of the key. With Eric Bledsoe draped all over him, Irving drove the lane, seemed to stumble and missed an awkward shot as time expired. The Bucks won the season series 2-1, their first over the Celtics since 2014-15.

Antetokounmpo added 13 rebounds, Middleton had 15 points and a season-high 13 rebounds, and Malcolm Brogdon had 15 points for the Bucks. They have won 15 of the last 17 games, including nine of the last 10, to improve to 44-14. Horford added 21 points and a season-high 17 rebounds for Boston.

LAKERS 111, ROCKETS 106

In Los Angeles, LeBron James scored 29 points, Brandon Ingram added 27 and the Lakers rallied from a 19-point deficit midway through the third quarter to defeat the Rockets.

The Lakers trailed most of the game and were down 95-88 with 7:49 remaining when they went on a 17-4 run over a six-minute span. James, who scored eight points during the run, gave Los Angeles a 99-97 lead with 4:15 remaining. They would lead by as many as eight in the final minute.

It is Los Angeles’ sixth comeback victory this season when trailing by 15 or more at any point. James Harden led Houston with 30 points. /