Bucks make quick work of short-handed 76ers

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 34 points and grabbed 15 boards to lead the host Milwaukee Bucks to a 123-109 win over the short-handed Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday evening.

It marked the fourth win in a row for Milwaukee. Damian Lillard added 25 points thanks to a 16-point fourth quarter, while Khris Middleton chipped in 13 points to go along with eight assists off the bench.

Tyrese Maxey had 37 points on 14-of-28 shooting to lead Philadelphia, which was without Joel Embiid (left knee injury management) and Paul George (groin), among others. Four other Sixers scored in double figures, including Kelly Oubre Jr., who finished with 19 points. The 76ers have dropped six straight games.

Milwaukee led 30-21 after the first quarter thanks in large part to 12 points from Antetokounmpo. However, Philadelphia responded.

A 10-0 76ers run to start the second quarter gave the visitors the lead. It took the Bucks over four minutes to make a field-goal attempt in the quarter, but they got back on track late in the frame to take a 59-50 lead into halftime.

Milwaukee was just 5-for-18 from deep before the break but shot 46.9 percent from the floor compared to 40.9 percent for Philadelphia.

After a poor start to the third quarter and a 6-2 spurt from Philadelphia that brought the 76ers' deficit down to just five, 61-56, Milwaukee would slowly pick it back up offensively and go into the fourth up 90-81.

The Bucks found their stroke from deep to start the fourth, with Lillard and Brook Lopez combining for three 3-pointers in the first three minutes of the final quarter to put Milwaukee up 101-90 with 8:57 to go.

Lillard ended up with three triples in his big fourth quarter, which allowed him to reach the 22,000-point plateau for his career. The Bucks led by as many as 16 in the final 12 minutes of action.

--Field Level Media