LOS ANGELES (AFP) ‒ Giannis Antetokounmpo made it a family affair on Wednesday night by scoring 25 points and joining his two brothers on the court as the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Los Angeles Lakers 112-97 at Staples Center arena.
Giannis joined forces with Bucks teammate Thanasis Antetokounmpo against the Lakers Kostas Antetokounmpo to become just the second brother trio in NBA history to play in the same game.
Jrue Holiday scored a game-high 28 points for the Bucks who snapped a three game losing skid. Khris Middleton added 17 points and eight assists, and Holiday also added eight rebounds and six assists for the Bucks.
Montrezl Harrell led four Lakers players in double-figures scoring with 19 points, followed by Dennis Schroder (17), Kyle Kuzma (16) and Markieff Morris (15).
Milwaukee was down 30-24 heading into the second quarter but turned that around to lead 57-49 at halftime. They cruised to victory from there.
The Bucks also spoiled the Lakers debut of Andre Drummond as the American centre finished with just four points.
He started in place of Marc Gasol but did not start the second half, and he re-entered the game briefly in the second half before pulling himself.
The Lakers said that Drummond suffered a right big toe contusion.
In Boston, Luka Doncic scored 36 points, including seven three pointers, as the Dallas Mavericks held on for a 113-108 win over the Celtics.
The Celtics clawed their way back in the contest after being down by 23 points in the third quarter.
They trailed 90-73 at the end of the third before cutting the deficit to single digits in the fourth quarter.
“I thought when things got a little hairy down the stretch, the great thing we did was keep our poise,” Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. “We were able to get fouled, make free throws and get a key basket when we needed.”
Doncic shot 11-of-15 from the field while Jalen Brunson finished with 21 points for the Mavs, who won for the fourth time in their past six games.
Kristaps Porzingis had 19 points, and Dorian Finney-Smith scored 11 with nine rebounds in the win.
Jayson Tatum had 25 points, Jaylen Brown 24 and Kemba Walker 22 for Boston, who have lost seven of their last 10 games.
Marcus Smart chipped in 17 points in the loss.
– ‘We’ve got to respond better’ –
Doncic and Brown traded threes pointers as Dallas led by eight with 36 seconds left in the fourth. Walker sank a three and Tatum finished off a tip in to make it a two point game with under 10 seconds left.
But a badly missed free-throw attempt by Smart thwarted any chance of the Celtics forcing overtime.
“We’ve got to respond better in the middle of a game. And we just haven’t,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said.
Elsewhere, Kyrie Irving scored 31 points and finished with a season-high 12 assists as the Brooklyn Nets stormed back in the final quarter to beat the Houston Rockets, 120-108, despite losing James Harden to an injury in the third quarter.
Joe Harris added 14 of his 28 points in the fourth and nailed seven three-pointers as the Nets moved into first place in the Eastern Conference.
Harden was forced to leave the contest with just under five minutes left in the third with tightness in his right hamstring. He scored 17 points before exiting with the Nets well behind at that point.
Nets coach Steve Nash said doctors will see how Harden feels Thursday before their game against Charlotte.
Brooklyn can’t afford another injury to a starter. They have already been without Kevin Durant since mid-February because of a strained hamstring.
“Any time someone goes down it’s very concerning,” Irving said. “We definitely have to have that mentality that we’re still going to play at a very high level.”
