DAMIAN Lillard scored 26 points and Giannis Antetokounmpo added 25 points as the Milwaukee Bucks beat the visiting San Antonio Spurs 121-105 on Wednesday night.

By Field Level Media

Lillard also had eight assists, while Antetokounmpo added 16 rebounds and eight dimes for his 432nd career double-double, moving past Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the top spot in Bucks history.

Brook Lopez posted 22 points for Milwaukee, which set up its clinical win with a commanding 34-19 second quarter.

Keldon Johnson combined 24 points with 11 boards in 25 minutes off the bench for San Antonio, while Chris Paul contributed 18 points and seven assists.

Victor Wembanyama had an unimpressive evening with 10 points on 4-of-10 shooting, though he added 10 rebounds and a game-high three blocked shots.

Wembanyama started well, leading the visitors to an early lead. The towering 21-year-old swatted an Antetokounmpo shot into the stands, knocked down a one-legged 3-pointer and hit an up-and-under circus shot.

Antetokounmpo responded to the challenge, throwing down four dunks in an 11-point opening quarter as Milwaukee rode a 10-0 burst to move ahead 31-27 going into the second period.

The Spurs reduced the gap to one point before Lillard, who was scoreless in the opening frame, piloted a 15-0 spree after a Bucks timeout.

The home side continued to have it all on their terms as they finished the half strongly.

AJ Green followed a corner 3-pointer over Wembanyama with a 30-foot trey, and Antetokounmpo followed sinking a fadeaway by rejecting Devin Vassell's attempted driving dunk.

Lopez's fourth trey on the cusp of halftime then stretched Milwaukee's advantage to 65-46.

Lillard's step-back 3-pointer saw the Bucks' advantage balloon to 70-49 before Paul paced a brief San Antonio fightback.

The veteran was aggressive from the perimeter, and his fifth 3-pointer in as many attempts trimmed the Spurs' deficit to 80-72.

Milwaukee eased the lead back out to 91-78 with a quarter to play. The Bucks sprinted away in the fourth, with Gary Trent Jr. burying 4 of 4 from long range in the quarter as the margin topped out at 26 points.

Meanwhile, Jamal Murray had 21 points and nine assists, Russell Westbrook and Michael Porter Jr. scored 19 points each and the host Denver Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Clippers 126-103 on Wednesday night.

Julian Strawther contributed 16 points, Christian Braun added 15 and DeAndre Jordan had a season-high 12 points along with nine rebounds for Denver. The Nuggets, who lost to the visiting Boston Celtics on Tuesday, are 8-0 in the second game of back-to-backs.

Both teams were without a star player. Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard returned to Los Angeles earlier Wednesday to be with his family because of the wildfires burning in Southern California. Denver center Nikola Jokic missed his second straight game due to illness.

Norman Powell scored a game-high 30 points, James Harden finished with 16 and Ivica Zubac and Kevin Porter Jr. added 10 each for the Clippers, who have lost four of their past five games.

The teams split four games this season, with three of those played on the Nuggets' court.

Both teams struggled to score early in the third quarter, and Denver's lead stayed within 16 for the first few minutes before the Nuggets started to extend their advantage.

Jordan made two free throws and dunked off a pass from Westbrook, Murray made two from the line, Westbrook scored on a fastbreak layup and a putback to give the Nuggets an 83-59 lead.

Denver continued to build its advantage. Westbrook converted a three-point play and Peyton Watson fed Jordan for another dunk to make it 94-67 with 4:36 left in the third, and the Nuggets headed into the final period up 98-77.

Murray hit two 3-pointers in the first few minutes of the fourth as Denver went up 109-80.

The Nuggets used a 20-3 first-quarter run to go ahead 30-13 and led 33-19 after one period. They made five straight 3-pointers in the second quarter to push the lead to 55-30 with 7:28 left before halftime.

Los Angeles scored the next 10 points to get back into range and the teams went into intermission with Denver ahead 66-50.

REUTERS