Bucks lose in 3 overtimes to Nets

NEW YORK (AP) — Brook Lopez had 32 points and a season-high 18 rebounds, helping the Brooklyn Nets to a 129-127 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks in the second triple-overtime meeting between the teams this season.

Lopez threw down a powerful dunk on a three-point play to open the scoring in the third OT, and the Nets finally held on to hand the Bucks their fifth straight loss.

Milwaukee had pulled out a 122-118 triple-overtime win here on Nov. 19 in former Nets coach Jason Kidd's first trip back to Brooklyn. The Bucks (34-35) led this game by 14 points in the second half before falling for the 10th time in 12 games, dropping below .500 for the first time since December.

Zaza Pachulia had 22 points, 21 rebounds — 18 offensive — and seven assists for Milwaukee.

Thaddeus Young scored 24 points and Joe Johnson had 20 for the Nets, who stopped a four-game home losing streak.

Khris Middleton finished with 29 points, eight rebounds and six assists for Milwaukee. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 23 points and 14 rebounds, and Ersan Ilyasova added 20 points and 13 boards, but both fouled out in the second overtime.

Ilyasova's sixth came while trying to stop what became Lopez's dunk over him, and Lopez followed the three-point play with another basket for a 122-117 lead. Milwaukee nearly tied it again, but Middleton's 3-point attempt spun out in the closing seconds and Johnson's free throw made it 129-125 with 8.1 seconds to play.

The Bucks dropped their 10th straight on the road, where they haven't won since Feb. 2 at Toronto. They are just 4-12 since the trade deadline deal that sent Brandon Knight to Phoenix and brought them Michael Carter-Williams from Philadelphia, but Kidd defended the deal and the team's situation before the game, saying they were focused on the future and ahead of schedule in the meantime while holding the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference.

The Nets are just trying to get in the postseason, coming in 2 1/2 games out of the eighth spot, and got a sorely needed home win. They came in as the only team in the NBA with a better road than home record.

Milwaukee scored a season-high 68 points in the first half and stretched its lead to 79-65 midway through the third. The Nets responded with a 19-5 run that tied it at 84 in the opening minute of the fourth. The Bucks went back ahead by six but neither team scored again after Johnson's 3-pointer tied it at 101 with 1:19 left, with Antetokounmpo missing a jumper with a second left.

He made up for that with the tying jumper with 15 seconds remaining in the first OT. Johnson's miss sent it to the next overtime, and he got it right in the next OT with a tying 3-pointer with 18 seconds to go.