The Milwaukee Bucks, fueled by 35 points from Damian Lillard and 34 from Giannis Antetokounmpo, snapped their two-game California skid with a 124-117 NBA victory over the Clippers in Los Angeles on Sunday.
Lillard scored 16 of his game-high 35 points in the fourth quarter to help the Bucks hold off the short-handed Clippers, adding seven rebounds and 11 assists.
Two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Antetokounmpo pulled down seven rebounds and handed out 10 assists for the Bucks, who were coming off losses to the Golden State Warriors and the Lakers in LA.
“It was extremely crucial,” Lillard said of turning things around on the Western swing that will continue with a game at Sacramento on Tuesday.
“I think we were playing our best basketball of the year for six games, you lay an egg at Golden State then you come against a short-handed team in the Lakers and you let them get going early and you get yourself in the dog fight on the road against the team with talent.”
This time, a back-and-forth battle that featured 28 lead changes saw the Bucks pull away late. Lillard scored nine straight points to push Milwaukee’s lead to 10 with 1:19 to play.
The Clippers were without Kawhi Leonard and Paul George as they played a second game in less than 24 hours.
They beat Chicago 112-102 on Saturday afternoon but with another early start — the quick turnaround exacerbated by the loss of one hour due to the US shift to daylight saving time — the Clippers rested Leonard, who is nursing a left groin injury, and George, who has a sore left knee.
Clippers coach Tyronn Lue called the scheduling “very extreme,” and said it was one reason the club is looking forward to moving into their new Intuit Dome arena next year after sharing Crypto.com arena with the Lakers.
The Lakers were due to host the Minnesota Timberwolves later Sunday in the downtown venue.
