Antetokounmpo leads Bucks to victory
▶ Harden scores 42 in losing cause
Milwaukee’s NBA Most Valuable Player contender Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 27 points to lead the Bucks to a hard-fought 116-109 victory Wednesday over reigning MVP James Harden and the Houston Rockets.
Antetokounmpo added 21 rebounds and was a physical presence on both ends of the floor as the Bucks battled back from a 60-54 halftime deficit to end the Rockets’ 10-game home winning streak.
“He just does everything,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said of the imposing Antetokounmpo, who drained 11 of his 14 free-throw attempts.
The Bucks led by as many as 15 in the fourth quarter, but Harden and the Rockets had whittled that lead to three with less than two minutes remaining.
Antetokounmpo, after missing a free throw with 1:39 to play, came out of a timeout and made the second to keep the Bucks ahead by four.
After Harden turned the ball over, than regained it with a steal only to miss a three-pointer, Antetokounmpo made sure the next Bucks possession produced some points as he rose to tap in a miss by Khris Middleton.
Harden, who finished with 42 points and 11 rebounds, missed another three-pointer and the Bucks held on to take their record to 29-11 – percentage points ahead of the 31-12 Toronto Raptors for best record in the league.
Malcolm Brogdon added 24 points, connecting on nine of 12 from the field. All of those baskets came from the paint, where the Bucks outscored the Rockets 70-24.
In Boston, the Celtics led by as many as many as 31 points in a wireto-wire 135-108 romp over the Indiana Pacers. The Celtics notched their fourth straight victory – all coming at home before they set off on a road trip that starts in Miami on Thursday.
Starting forward Marcus Morris and reserve Jaylen Brown both scored
22 points for the Celtics and Jayson Tatum added 20.
They jumped on a Pacers team playing their fourth game in six nights, opening the game on an 18-8 scoring run.
In Washington, the Wizards made the most of a return home with a convincing 123-106 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers – a day after the Sixers dominated the Wizards 132-115 in Philly.
The Sixers had won four in a row, but they have now lost nine straight in the nation’s capital, a skid dating back to November 2013.
Bradley Beal’s 34 points included 14 straight for the Wizards in the fourth quarter. Otto Porter Jr scored 23 and Trevor Ariza added 17 for Washington, with Joel Embiid leading the 76ers
with 35 points and 14 rebounds.