Antetokounmpo leads Bucks

Giannis Antetokounmpo is taking his game to another level.

He had his second tripledouble this season with 26 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists to help the host Milwaukee Bucks rout the Sacramento Kings 144-109 on Sunday.

“A great win for the team,” Antetokounmpo said. “When I drove the ball, they were wide open. I passed it, and they knocked down everything.”

The Bucks (8-1) are off to the best nine-game start in franchise history. They set a season high for points in a game and also set the franchise record for threes made with 22.

Coach Mike Budenholzer was happy his team followed Antetokounmpo’s lead.

“Hopefully, one of the keys to Giannis being great is everybody around him being great,” the Bucks first-year coach said. “We can also talk about a lot of other guys who played well, too. So that’s a great sign for Giannis and a great sign for us.”

Seven other Bucks were in double figures. Eric Bledsoe scored 17 points, Ersan Ilyasova 15, Malcolm Brogdon and Pat Connaughton each had 13, Tony Snell and Khris Middleton each had 12 and John Henson added 10.

Justin Jackson scored 22 points, Buddy Hield had 19 and De’Aaron Fox 15 for the Kings, whose five-game winning streak was snapped.

“We just went 3-1 on a fourgame road trip,” Jackson said. “Obviously, it hurts a little bit to lose like that, but I think we’re extremely happy of how we played this road trip.”