Bucks 128, Heat 99

The Milwaukee Bucks sure didn’t let Giannis Antetokounmpo’s early exit bother them Friday night as they rolled to their most-lopsided victory of the season.

Now they wait to learn whether they might have to continue playing without the two-time MVP.

Antetokounmpo left late in the first quarter with a right knee issue to spoil his rapid recovery from a sprained wrist, but the Bucks still trounced the Miami Heat 128-99 for their 13th consecutive triumph.

“I haven’t gotten the full breakdown, but I’m pretty sure either on a drive or on a screen or something like that, he knocked knees with somebody and just wasn’t able to return," said Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer, who had no update beyond that.

Antetokounmpo was in the starting lineup just four days after heading to New York to have his right wrist examined.

“Sometimes you have to stop him from himself, being able to calm down and maybe even not play a couple of games, knowing that we’re No. 2 (in the East), knowing that we’re all right," said Jrue Holiday, who had 24 points. "I know he doesn’t like it. He tries to play every single game, which I completely understand. I feel like I’m the same way.”

Antetokounmpo was on the floor late in the first quarter when the two-time MVP passed the ball and immediately motioned to the bench as the Bucks called a timeout to enable him to head to the locker room.

He had four points, four rebounds and four assists in just six minutes.

The Bucks still had no trouble extending the longest winning streak in the NBA this season. The Bucks pulled ahead for good four minutes into the game and rolled to their most lopsided victory of the season.

“It didn't slow them down one bit when Giannis went out,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “They just put it in overdrive.”

Holiday shot 5 of 9 from 3-point range, had seven assists and five rebounds. He drew perhaps his biggest ovation of the night when the scoreboard video caught him joining the crowd singalong to the Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way” during a timeout late in the fourth quarter.

“That's a classic song,” Holiday said. “And we were winning. So good vibes.”

Bobby Portis had 18 points and 11 rebounds in his return from a sprained right medial collateral ligament that caused him to miss 11 games. Brook Lopez had 17 points, Grayson Allen 16 and Khris Middleton 12.

“It was fun just to be out there, fun just to play the game I love to play,” Portis said.

Jimmy Butler scored 23, Bam Adebayo 18, Tyler Herro 14 and Caleb Martin 13 for the Heat, who shot just 9 of 40 on 3-point attempts.

Jae Crowder, acquired by the Bucks at the trade deadline, made his 2022-23 debut and had nine points in 16 minutes. Crowder hadn't played at all for Phoenix this season as the Suns attempted to deal him.

Kevin Love and Cody Zeller made their Heat debuts after signing with Miami during the All-Star break. Love, who had reached a buyout with the Cleveland Cavaliers, was in the starting lineup but went scoreless in his first game appearance in a month. He did have eight rebounds and four assists in 22 minutes. Zeller was playing his first game of the season and had 10 points in 16 minutes.

Kings 176, Clippers 175 (2OT)

Malik Monk scored a career-high 45 points, De’Aaron Fox had the go-ahead basket and finished with 42 and Sacramento beat the Clippers 176-175 in the second-highest scoring game in NBA history.

Detroit beat Denver 186-184 in triple overtime on Dec. 13, 1983, in the highest-scoring NBA game. The Kings are third on the scoring list with the 176 points and the Clippers fourth.

The Clippers had a 175-169 advantage with 1:57 remaining before the Kings scored the final seven points, including Fox's jumper with 36.5 seconds remaining. The Clippers had the final shot but missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Kawhi Leonard scored a season-high 44 points for Los Angeles and Paul George added 34.

Russell Westbrook started and made his Clippers debut after he cleared waivers Wednesday. He had 17 points, 14 assists and five rebounds in 39 minutes before fouling out with 1:49 remaining in the second overtime.

Hawks 136, Cavaliers 119

Trae Young scored 34 points and Atlanta beat Cleveland in its first game under interim coach Joe Prunty.

The Hawks played their first game since coach Nate McMillan was fired on Tuesday. The team had three practices, including a shootaround session on Friday morning, under Prunty, who had been McMillan’s lead assistant.

Darius Garland led Cleveland with 33 points.

Hornets 121, Timberwolves 113

LaMelo Ball had 32 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and the dagger 3-pointer down the stretch to lead Charlotte past Minnesota.

Gordon Hayward added a season-high 27 points and 13 rebounds and P.J. Washington had in 20 points for the Hornets. They won their third straight overall and stopped a seven-game road skid.

Bell bested Minnesota All-Star Anthony Edwards in a battle of two of the top three picks in the 2020 draft. Edwards had 29 points and eight rebounds.

Warriors 116, Rockets 101

Klay Thompson scored 42 points and matched his season high with 12 3-pointers, leading undermanned Golden State past Houston.

Donte DiVincenzo added 15 points as the Warriors hung tough in the second game of a road-home back-to-back following a 124-111 loss at the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night.

KJ Martin had 22 points and eight rebounds for the NBA-worst Rockets (13-46). They lost their eighth straight.

Suns 124, Thunder 115

Devin Booker scored 25 points, Chris Paul added 16 and Phoenix beat Oklahoma City.

Surging Phoenix has won 12 of 16 as it waits for superstar Kevin Durant to return from a knee injury to make his Suns debut.

Terrence Ross made a 3-pointer at the third quarter buzzer to put the Suns up 94-87. Phoenix led the rest of the way and Booker’s 3-pointer with two minutes left gave the Suns an 11-point lead. It also gave the three-time All-Star 1,052 career 3-pointers, which set a franchise record.

Isaiah Joe led Oklahoma City with a career-high 28 points.