Bucks get win over the Kings without Giannis

Khris Middleton scored 34 points and Jrue Holiday added 26 to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a 133-127 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Saturday night, making up for the absence of teammate Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Antetokounmpo sat out with right knee soreness one night after scoring 30 points in a defensive struggle against the Chicago Bulls. The Bucks (30-19) won their third straight game and second in as many nights, this time in a more free-flowing contest.

Middleton sank a clutch 3-pointer with 1:09 left after the Kings (18-30), who trailed by as many as 15 points, rallied within three points. After Harrison Barnes converted a layup for the Kings, Holiday split the defense and threw down a left-handed dunk to give the Bucks a 126-120 lead with 47.6 seconds remaining.

The Bucks closed out the game by sinking 7 of 8 free throws, including 4 of 4 by Middleton.

SUNS 113, PACERS 103 >> Mikal Bridges tied a season high with 23 points and Bismack Biyombo matched his career best with 21 as Phoenix won its sixth straight by beating Indiana.

CAVALIERS 94, THUNDER 87 >> Darius Garland had 23 points and 11 assists and rookie Evan Mobley had 15 points and a seasonhigh 17 rebounds to lead Cleveland past Oklahoma City. Jarrett Allen added 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who built a 74-57 lead in the third quarter and never allowed the Thunder to pull closer than six points in the fourth. The Cavaliers have won six of their last seven. BULLS’ CARUSO TO HAVE SURGERY ON BROKEN WRIST >> Chicago Bulls guard Alex Caruso will have surgery next week to repair his broken right wrist after he was taken down by Grayson Allen during the third quarter of Friday night’s 94-90 loss at Milwaukee. The team said Caruso will be re-evaluated in six to eight weeks. It’s another tough blow for Chicago after it announced Thursday that guard Lonzo Ball needs arthroscopic surgery on his left knee.

Caruso is averaging 8.4 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.9 assists in 28 games in his first season with Chicago.

Caruso was driving to the basket Friday night when a hard foul from Allen caused him to land on his right side. Caruso lay on the floor for a few minutes, though he stayed in the game to attempt the free throws that resulted from Allen’s flagrant 2 foul.

The play was originally ruled a common shooting foul, but it was upgraded to a flagrant 2 after a replay review. The flagrant 2 resulted in an automatic ejection.