Thunder beat Bucks
Westbrook claims bragging rights
Giannis Antetokounmpo led all scorers with 28 points but reigning NBA MVP Russell Westbrook claimed bragging rights as the Oklahoma City Thunder thumped the Milwaukee Bucks 110-91 on Tuesday night.
American Westbrook finished just shy of his fourth triple-double of the season, scoring 12 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and collecting nine assists for the Thunder in front of a crowd of 18,700 at the Bradley Center arena.
The game was billed as a matchup between the defending league MVP Westbrook and the early-season front-runner for the award, Bucks superstar Antetokounmpo.
But unlike Greece’s Antetokounmpo, Westbrook got plenty of help from his supporting cast on Tuesday as Paul George scored a team-high 20 points and Carmelo Anthony chipped in with 17.
Jeremi Grant also finished with 17 for the Thunder, who shot 49 percent and improved to 4-3 on the season.
The 22-year-old Antetokounmpo led the Bucks but failed to reach the 30-point mark for just the second time this season.
Antetokounmpo, who grew up in Athens and is of Nigerian descent, hit nine of 14 shots, including a pair of threepointers. But Milwaukee shot just 42.1 percent overall as they lost their second game in the last three.
In Los Angeles, Julius Randle came off the bench to score 17 points and lead seven players in double figures as the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the red-hot Detroit Pistons 113-93.
Kyle Kuzma added 16 points, and Larry Nance tallied 14 and 12 rebounds for the Lakers.
Reggie Jackson and Tobias Harris scored 18 points each for the Pistons, who dropped to 5-3 on the season.
The Pistons were coming off back-toback wins against the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday and the Golden State Warriors on Sunday.
The Clippers were the last unbeaten team before Detroit rallied from 13 points down in the third quarter to win 95-87.
In Indianapolis, the Pacers also used a balanced scoring attack to crush the Sacramento Kings 101-83 as Lithuanian forward Domantas Sabonis delivered his third double-double of the season with 12 points and a career-high 16 rebounds.
Bojan Bogdanovic, of Croatia, scored a team-high 17 points while American Thaddeus Young chipped in 15 for Indiana who improved to 4-3 on the season.
Victor Oladipo, who led the Pacers in scoring each of the first six games, finished with 14 points on four-of-10 shooting. Cory Joseph added 13 points off the Indiana bench.