MILWAUKEE — Damian Lillard scored 34 points, Giannis Antetokounmpo had 31 points and 16 rebounds and the Milwaukee Bucks snapped a six-game skid, beating the Utah Jazz 123-100 on Thursday night.
Antetokounmpo was back in action after missing a 116-114 loss at Cleveland on Monday night because of a right adductor strain.
The Bucks hadn’t lost six straight games since March 2015. They avoided their first seven-game skid since March 2014, when they dropped eight in a row.
Jordan Clarkson had 18 off the bench to lead the Jazz.
Utah led 71-70 before the Bucks took command with a 17-1 run late in the third quarter. Lillard and Antetokounmpo combined to score Milwaukee’s first 15 points in that spurt.
Jazz: Utah entered the night ranked 27th in the NBA in 3-pointers per game (11.3) and 29th in 3-point percentage (30.3%), but the Jazz went 14 of 26 from beyond the arc in the first half to lead 61-57 at the break. They were 3 of 15 in the second half.
Bucks: Milwaukee coach Doc Rivers shuffled his lineup by giving Andre Jackson Jr. his first start of the season and moving Gary Trent Jr. to a bench role.
Utah led 61-60 when Antetokounmpo picked up his fourth foul with 10:26 left in the third quarter. Antetokounmpo never left the floor until 43.1 seconds remained in the period, but he didn’t pick up another foul during that stretch and helped spark the 17-1 run that gave the Bucks some breathing room.
Antetokounmpo had six offensive rebounds to increase his career total to 1,469 and become Milwaukee’s career leader. Marques Johnson, now part of the Bucks’ television broadcast team, had 1,468 offensive rebounds with the Bucks from 1977-84.
The Jazz are at Sacramento on Saturday. The Bucks are at New York on Friday night.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
