NEW YORK – Khris Middleton scored 24 points and Giannis Antetokounmpo had his first triple-double of the season to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a 112-97 victory over the short-handed New York Knicks.
One of seven Bucks in double-digit scoring, Antetokounmpo had 20 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds.
Bobby Portis Jr. added 19 points, Rodney Hood had 14, Jrue Holliday chipped in 13, Grayson Allen contributed 12 and Pat Connaughton netted 10.
“We’re seeing different guys come in and make plays and make shots,” Allen said according to AP.
Elsewhere, Joel Embiid had 26 points and nine rebounds and the Philadelphia 76ers delayed Stephen Curry’s bid to break Ray Allen´s career 3-point record in a 102-93 victory over the Golden State Warriors.
“That was not happening on my court,” Embiid said. “That was not happening in Philly.”
Golden State dropped to 21-5, falling a half-game behind Phoenix for the NBA lead.
Curry was largely shut down over 36 minutes by Matisse Thybulle, who made just his sixth start of the season, strictly to blanket the guard. Curry was 6 of 20 from the floor and the Warriors were held under 100 points for the second time this season.
“Just having guys willing to let me take on that 1-on-1 matchup and play the rest of the team 4 on 4, allowed me to stay close to the body and not let Stephen get anything easy,” Thybulle said.
Curry scored 18 points and shot 3 of 14 from 3-point range to move within six of matching Allen´s record.
Thybulle was the first player to block multiple 3-point attempts by Curry in a single game in his NBA career.
“I give Thybulle credit. He´s a rare combination of length and athleticism and brains,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “He did as good a job on Stephen as anybody I´ve seen in a long time.”
