NBA: Antetokounmpo propels Bucks over Mavs

Two-time MVP winner Antetokounmpo hit 14-of-21 shots from the floor and Khris Middleton finished with 25 points for the host Bucks, who have won seven of their last eight games

Los Angeles: Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 31 points and had nine rebounds to power the Milwaukee Bucks to a 112-109 victory over Luka Doncic’s Dallas Mavericks in a battle between the two early frontrunners for NBA Most Valuable Player honours.

Two-time MVP winner Antetokounmpo hit 14-of-21 shots from the floor and Khris Middleton finished with 25 points for the host Bucks, who have won seven of their last eight games. Doncic shot 12-of-24 from the floor for a team-high 28 points after coming off a 34-point performance in a win over Charlotte two nights earlier.

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Four-time NBA champion LeBron James took on former first overall draft pick Zion Williamson and after the slow start the host Lakers rolled to a 112-95 win over the Pelicans. James had 21 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds, Anthony Davis finished with 17 points and a half dozen Lakers finished in double figure scoring.

Montrezl Harrell and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope each with 16 points, Germany’s Dennis Schroder with 12 and Kyle Kuzma with 11 as the first place Los Angeles won their fifth game in a row.

Williamson, who returned after a one-game absence due to health protocols, had 21 points and 12 rebounds and Brandon Ingram scored 20 points for the Pelicans, who lost their fifth straight. Also, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 33 points and Mike Muscala hit a pair of three-pointers in overtime to lift the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 127-125 win over the Chicago Bulls.

The Bulls led by as many as 22 points in the first half before the Thunder rallied to tie it up in the final seconds. Muscala’s three-pointers and Chicago’s poor overtime shooting allowed Oklahoma City to win for the first time in six home games this season.

Elsewhere, Kawhi Leonard delivered 27 points and six assists as the Los Angeles Clippers cruised to a 138-100 win over the Sacramento Kings.