Bucks beat Wizards, winning their fifth consecutive game
(Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON - Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 42 points on 20-of-23 shooting, and the Milwaukee Bucks won their fifth consecutive game, 142-129 over the Washington Wizards on Monday night.
Washington dropped its sixth straight, but not without putting up a decent fight against the star-studded Bucks. The Wizards led by a point in the fourth after Corey Kispert's layup with 10:02 remaining, but Antetokounmpo scored at the other end to start a 15-3 run by Milwaukee.
Antetokounmpo shot 87.0% from the field, the highest mark in a game by a player with at least 20 attempts since Mike Woodson of the Kansas City Kings went 22 of 24 (91.7%) in a 48-point effort against the Houston Rockets on Feb. 20, 1983.
Antetokounmpo went just 2 of 6 from the free-throw line, but the Wizards couldn't stop him from dominating around the rim. He also contributed 13 rebounds and eight assists.
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The Bucks (10-4) have rebounded from a pedestrian start to join Boston and Philadelphia among the elite teams in the Eastern Conference. This wasn't a terribly inspiring defensive performance — Washington shot 55% from the field — but Milwaukee kept the Wizards at arm's length after the Bucks made their decisive run in the fourth.
Jordan Poole scored 30 points for Washington, and Kyle Kuzma added 22 points and 13 assists. The Wizards turned the ball over only four times, and the Bucks didn't have a single point off those giveaways.
Damian Lillard scored 22 points for the Bucks. Khris Middleton scored 18 to move past Sidney Moncrief and into fourth place on Milwaukee's career scoring list. He now trails only Antetokounmpo, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Glenn Robinson.
The Bucks shot 58.5% from the field.