Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 38 points, and dished out six assists and the Milwaukee Bucks matched their longest winning streak of the season with a ninth consecutive victory, beating the host Los Angeles Lakers 115-106 on Thursday night. Giannis also grabbed 10 rebounds. Playing without LeBron James — sitting out to rest an ankle injury inflamed after he set the NBA’s all-time scoring recordAMP on Tuesday — the Lakers got a team-high 25 points from Dennis Schroder. Anthony Davis finished with 23 points and 16 rebounds.
Spencer Dinwiddie made his return to the Brooklyn Nets a successful one, scoring 25 points as Brooklyn pulled away down the stretch to win 116-105 against visiting Chicago Bulls in New York. Dinwiddie, acquired along with Dorian Finney-Smith from Dallas for Kyrie Irving on Monday,AMP also handed out six assists and tied a career high with four steals. Zach LaVine had 38 points for Chicago, Nikola Vucevic added 15 points and 17 rebounds and DeMar DeRozan finished with 14 points.
Wendell Carter Jr. scored 19 points as host Orlando Magic beat Denver Nuggets 115-104. Cole Anthony and Bol Bol scored 17 apiece as the Magic won for the third time in four games. Denver’s Aaron Gordon scored a season-high 37 points and added 13 rebounds, and Nikola Jokic had 29 points and 12 rebounds.
Trae Young collected 36 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds to fuel host Atlanta Hawks to victory 116-107 over short-handed Phoenix Suns. John Collins added 16 points to send Atlanta to its third win in five games. Phoenix’s Josh Okogie scored 25 points off the bench. Deandre Ayton added 23, Chris Paul added 15 points and eight assists for the Suns, who saw their three-game winning streak come to a halt.