Giannis Antetokounmpo recorded his second triple-double of the season with 37 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists as the Milwaukee Bucks led wire-to-wire in a 129-117 win over the visiting Indiana Pacers on Friday night in an NBA Cup game.
Damian Lillard had 24 points and 12 assists for his third straight double-double to help Milwaukee win its third straight. The Bucks have won five of their last six since opening the season 2-8.
Six players scored in double figures for Milwaukee. The other were Gary Trent Jr. (18 points), Bobby Portis (17), Taurean Prince (13) and Brook Lopez (11).
Indiana trailed by as many as 25 points in the third quarter and lost for the fifth time in its last six games. The Pacers shot 11 of 34 (32.4 percent) from 3-point range and fell to 0-2 in the NBA Cup.
Trailing 93-79 at the start of the fourth quarter, Indiana used a 16-3 run to cut the deficit to 108-102 with 5:52 remaining. Milwaukee withstood the rally and improved to 2-0 in the NBA Cup.
Antetokounmpo recorded his 47th career triple-double, and the Bucks, who shot 53.3 percent from the field and 17 of 36 (47.2 percent) from 3-point range.
Pascal Siakam led Indiana with 25 points. Bennedict Mathurin had 20 points, nine rebounds and three steals, Tyrese Haliburton scored 18 points to go with nine assists, Myles Turner had 15 points, and T.J. McConnell chipped in 12 points and eight assists off the bench.
Milwaukee scored the game’s first 10 points and led 34-22 at the end of the first quarter. Antetokounmpo had 13 points in the opening period.
Obi Toppin scored with 1:18 left in the second quarter to cut the deficit to 48-44, but the Bucks closed the half on a 10-0 run to lead 58-44.
Indiana was held to 38.1 percent shooting from the field and 26.7 percent (4 of 15) from beyond the arc in the first half. Portis had 17 points to lead all scorers.
Lillard hit back-to-back 3-pointers to extend Milwaukee’s lead to 75-55 with 7:52 left in the third quarter.