Bucks beat Clippers, Damian Lillard scores 16 in 4th quarter
Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard (0) dribbles during an NBA basketball game against the LA Clippers on March 10, 2024 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Ric Tapia/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES - Damian Lillard scored 16 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter of the Milwaukee Bucks' first victory on their California road trip, 124-117 over the short-handed Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday.
Lillard hit three of his seven 3-pointers during a stellar shooting display in the fourth, while Giannis Antetokounmpo had 34 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds as the Bucks rebounded from back-to-back losses to Golden State and the Lakers by outlasting the Clippers, who played without Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
James Harden had 13 points on 5-of-16 shooting and 11 assists while playing without his two superstar teammates, who both sat out of the team's second home game in less than 24 hours. Leonard and George played extensively in Los Angeles' win over Chicago on Saturday afternoon, and the Clippers decided to rest Leonard's sore left groin and George's sore left knee.
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Norman Powell scored 20 of his 26 points in the second half for the Clippers, who already were without injured Russell Westbrook. With more than 57 points per game removed from their lineup, the Clips still gave a tough game to another championship-contending team before the final minutes.
Before the game, coach Tyronn Lue called the Clippers' weekend scheduling "very extreme." The Clippers won't face as many scheduling obstacles next year when they move out of the arena they share with the Lakers and the NHL's Los Angeles Kings into the new Intuit Dome in Inglewood.
Six days after the Bucks’ 113-106 win over the Clippers in Milwaukee, Lillard and Antetokounmpo finally took charge down the stretch of the rematch to avoid the Bucks' first three-game losing streak in a month.
Neither team led by more than eight points all day until Lillard hit three free throws and a 3-pointer on consecutive possessions with less than two minutes to play.
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Harden wasn't at his best, missing seven consecutive shots in the first half and finishing 1 for 6 on 3-pointers.
P.J. Tucker scored his first basket since Nov. 14 for the Clippers in the first quarter, finishing with seven points. The veteran hasn't cracked the Clippers' rotation since he was acquired from Philadelphia along with Harden, and he was fined $75,000 by the NBA for publicly campaigning for a trade near the deadline.