Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 35 points propelled the Milwaukee Bucks to a 13th straight NBA victory on Wednesday, a hard-fought 127-103 win over the Pistons in Detroit.
Antetokounmpo, the reigning NBA Most Valuable Player, powered through a contentious encounter, pulling down six rebounds and handing out nine assists as the Bucks continued their domination of the Pistons.
The Bucks improved to 19-3 – tied for best record in the league with the Western Conference-leading Los Angeles Lakers, who beat the Utah Jazz 121-96 in Salt Lake City.
Milwaukee, whose eight wins over Detroit last season included a first-round playoff sweep, have now notched two wins this season over the Pistons.
Antetokounmpo and Detroit’s Blake Griffin clashed early and often.
Midway through the second quarter, Griffin elbowed Antetokounmpo in the face and teammates hurried to intervene as the two exchanged words.
Antetokounmpo answered in the third with a monster block of Griffin’s layup attempt, and less than a minute later when he hit the court after a foul by Bruce Brown, Griffin angered the Bucks by stepping over Antetokounmpo’s legs.
Middleton raced over and admonished Griffin and after a lengthy review Brown, Griffin and Middleton all received technical fouls.
“At that point, I was, like, tired,” Antetokounmpo said. “I was, like: ‘They’re going to do this all night.’
“At first I was trying to talk back, trying to let them know this is more than basketball. We can stop playing basketball, we can fight.
“At the end of the day my teammates want me in the game, my teammates want me to keep my head in the game.”
The tough-guy posturing didn’t help the Pistons, and the Bucks emerged with their longest winning streak since 1973.
The Lakers put on a defensive clinic in Utah, coming up with 13 steals and blocking 12 shots as they held the Jazz to 41 per cent shooting.
LeBron James added 20 points and handed out 12 assists for the Lakers, who didn’t trail at all after the first quarter and led by as many as 25 in the second half.
The Jazz lost for the fifth time in sixth games – but suffered just their second home defeat of the season.
In Boston, the Celtics defeated the Miami Heat 112-93, handing the Heat their first defeat of a three-game road trip that had included wins over the Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Raptors.