INDIANAPOLIS — Jrue Holiday scored a career-high 51 points, Giannis Antetokounmpo had 38 points in a triple-double and the NBA-leading Milwaukee Bucks beat the Indiana Pacers 149-136 on Wednesday night.

Antetokoumpro added 17 rebounds and 12 assists to help the Bucks improve to 55-21.

Milwaukee has a three-game lead in the Eastern Conference on the Boston Celtics, who visit Thursday night.

The two-time NBA MVP was an assist shy of a triple-double at halftime with 20 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. He returned after sitting out Monday night in a victory at Detroit because of a sore knee.

Holiday had 18 points in the third quarter, when the Bucks scored a season-high 46 points to build a 12-point lead. He was 20 of 30 from the field with three 3-pointers and hit 8 of 10 free throws. His previous best was 40 points in an overtime victory over visiting Boston on Feb. 14.
Brook Lopez added 21 points for the Bucks.

KNICKS 101, HEAT 92: Immanuel Quickly scored 24 points, Quentin Grimes had 23 and New York moved closer to a postseason berth by beating visiting Miami.

Josh Hart added 13 for the Knicks, who overcame the loss of Julius Randle to a sprained left ankle to win their second straight and remained firmly in fifth place in the Eastern Conference. They are 2 1/2 games ahead of the Brooklyn Nets and opened a four-game gap over the seventh-place Heat.

The top six teams are guaranteed postseason spots.

NETS 123, ROCKETS 114: Cam Johnson had 31 points, Mikal Bridges scored 12 of his 27 in the fourth quarter and Brooklyn rallied to beat visiting Houston.

Johnson and Bridges came over together from Phoenix in the trade that sent Kevin Durant to the Suns. Durant finally made his home debut for Phoenix on Wednesday night.

Nic Claxton added 18 points and 10 rebounds for Brooklyn, and Spencer Dinwiddie had 17 points. The Nets won for the second time in three games to snap a four-game home losing skid.

Kevin Porter Jr. had 31 points, nine rebounds and six assists for Houston, which has lost seven in a row.

NOTES

BULLS: Center Andre Drummond missed the team’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night after he posted on Twitter that he was deleting his social media apps to focus on his mental health.

Drummond was ruled out because of personal reasons, according to the Bulls. Coach Billy Donovan said he is hopeful about the possibility of Drummond traveling with the team ahead of Friday night’s game at Charlotte.

“As we come here and play games there’s also a human side, a personal side to all these guys,” Donovan said, “and you feel bad when anybody’s going through something like that. I think you try to give as much support as you can.”

The 29-year-old Drummond is in his first year with Chicago and his 11th season in the NBA overall. The two-time All-Star posted on Tuesday that he was deleting his apps and changing his number.

“Time to focus on my mental health,” Drummond wrote. “If you too are struggling with your mental health, you are not alone … it’s okay to ask for help.”

Copy the Story Link