Bucks start strong, hang on to beat 76ers
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 27 points and Khris Middleton had 24 as the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 124117 on Thursday night in a matchup of two of the Eastern Conference’s top teams.
Bobby Portis added a season-high 23 points as the Bucks ended a five-game home losing streak.
Milwaukee never trailed and led by as many as 21 to defeat Philadelphia for the fourth consecutive time. In their only previous meeting this season, the Bucks won 109-105 in overtime.
Joel Embiid scored 24 points for the Sixers. Shake Milton had 20 off the bench.
The Bucks, who hadn’t played since Monday, improved to 36-22 and hold the third seed in the East. The Sixers, playing for the fifth time in eight days, fell to 3920 and into a tie with idle Brooklyn for the top spot. Philadelphia plays in Milwaukee again Saturday. CELTICS 99, SUNS 86 » Kemba Walker matched his season high with 32 points and Boston rolled over visiting Phoenix.
Walker was 11 of 17 from the field, hitting five 3-pointers. The Celtics were without Jaylen Brown because of a sore left shoulder, and Jayson Tatum struggled shooting for the second straight game, going 3 of 17. He had 15 points and 11 rebounds.
PELICANS 135, MAGIC 100 » Zion Williamson scored 23 points in 23 minutes in his first game against Orlando, and visiting New Orleans beat the Magic to snap a four-game losing streak. Brandon Ingram added 29 points and the Pelicans got double-figure scoring from six players.
SPURS 106, PISTONS 91 » Derrick White had 26 points, Jakob Poeltl added 17 points and 11 rebounds and San Antonio snapped a fivegame home losing streak.
BULLS 108, HORNETS 91 » Nikola Vucevic scored 18 points and matched a season high with 16 rebounds, Coby White and Thaddeus Young scored 18 apiece, and Chicago beat visiting Charlotte.