The New York Knicks are under no illusions as to the importance of securing home-court advantage for the Eastern Conference playoffs, with Friday's win over the Brooklyn Nets keeping them in the hunt for the second seed.

The Knicks drew level with the Milwaukee Bucks at 49-32 with their 111-107 win at Madison Square Garden, boosting their chances of playing at the iconic venue through the postseason.

Jalen Brunson put up 30 points and added 11 assists as the Knicks made it four straight victories, with Josh Hart adding 16 and Mitchell Robinson tacking on 15.

The result saw New York secure a top-four seed, with the Bucks' subsequent 125-107 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder keeping their chances of finishing second in the East alive.

With the Bucks possessing the head-to-head tiebreaker, the Knicks must beat the Chicago Bulls in their season finale on Sunday and hope Milwaukee lose on the road against the Orlando Magic. If both teams lose, the Cleveland Cavaliers could yet usurp them.

Asked about the importance of playing at home, Hart said: "I heard the lights are really bright at MSG during that time, so it's really big for us."

Coach Tom Thibodeau, though, said the team cannot control anything other than their own results, saying: "We want to go through the finish line so that's the way we're looking at it. We want to improve and play our best."

With Giannis Antetokounmpo sidelined by a left calf injury and Damian Lillard missing out due to pain in his left adductor, the short-handed Bucks let the Knicks into the race with their loss at Paycom Center.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 23 points and Chet Holmgren added 22 as the Thunder eased to victory, establishing a 17-point halftime lead which they never looked likely to surrender.

Asked about Milwaukee's failure to wrap up second place, Bucks coach Doc Rivers said: "I don't have much of a reaction. We've got to run to the finish line.

"The good news is, no matter what, we'll be at home for game one. That we do know."

That result was also an important one in the race to top the Western Conference, with the Thunder now locked in a three-way tie with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets.

It's in Oklahoma City's hands going into their season finale against the Dallas Mavericks, with Mark Daigneault's team edging the three-way tiebreaker.

"I think the big exponential jumps come from small incremental steps," Daigneault said after Friday's game. "I talk all the time about stacking and we really are trying to live that out. 

"We just try to have a good day in the day that's in front of us, have a good possession in the possession that's in front of us, a good game in the game that's in front of us and just be very present in the process of improving and competing."

Joel Embiid shook off an apparent injury to finish with 32 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists and the Philadelphia 76ers extended their winning streak to seven with a 125-113 victory over the Orlando Magic on Friday.

Embiid had 21 points, nine boards and seven assists in the first 17 minutes but appeared to land awkwardly on his left knee late in the first half. He limped to midcourt and gave up on the play.

After coach Nick Nurse called timeout, Embiid went straight to the locker room. But he returned for the second half and promptly hit a 3-pointer on his first touch of the third quarter.

Orlando, Indiana and Philadelphia are all 46-35 after the Pacers lost to Cleveland and are fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively, in the Eastern Conference.

Franz Wagner scored 24 points and Paolo Banchero added 22 for Orlando, which dropped its third straight game. The Magic can win the Southeast Division with a victory over Milwaukee on Sunday.

Spurs rally to stun Nuggets

Devonte’ Graham scored on a floater in the lane with 0.9 seconds remaining and the San Antonio Spurs rallied from a 23-point deficit for a 121-120 win over the Denver Nuggets, who may have suffered a potentially damaging loss.

The loss dropped Denver out of sole possession of first place in the Western Conference and into a tie with Minnesota and Oklahoma City. After tiebreakers, the Timberwolves are first, the Thunder and second and the Nuggets are third heading into the final day of the regular season on Sunday.

Victor Wembanyama had 34 points and 12 rebounds for the West-worst Spurs, who trailed 76-53 early in the third quarter and were still down 17 early in the fourth.

Jamal Murray scored 35 points and Nikola Jokić had 22 and 12 rebounds for the Nuggets, who close the regular season Sunday at Memphis.

Thunder handle depleted Bucks

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 23 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder boosted their chances at capturing the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference with a 125-107 win over the short-handed Milwaukee Bucks.

Chet Holmgren had 22 points and nine rebounds and Aaron Wiggins added 19 points for the Thunder, who won their fourth straight and ended the night tied for the top seed in the West after Denver lost to San Antonio and Minnesota beat Atlanta.

Milwaukee played without superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo (strained left calf) and All-Star Damian Lillard (sore left adductor) and dropped into a tie with the Knicks for the No. 2 seed in the East. The Bucks can still finish second with a win at Orlando on Sunday or a New York loss to Chicago.

Tests on Giannis Antetokounmpo's injured left calf reportedly showed his Achilles tendon is fully intact, though the Milwaukee Bucks superstar's availability for the final few games of the NBA regular season and the start of the playoffs remains undetermined.

ESPN reported Wednesday that Antetokounmpo has been diagnosed with a left calf strain and his return to play will be determined by how his injury heals.

Antetokounmpo was injured in the third quarter of Milwaukee's 104-91 win over the Eastern Conference-leading Boston Celtics on Tuesday. The victory kept the Bucks one game ahead of the New York Knicks in the race for the East's No. 2 playoff seed.

Milwaukee has three games remaining in the regular season, all against teams likely bound for the postseason. The Bucks host the Orlando Magic on Wednesday before hitting the road for matchups with the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday and the Magic on Sunday. 

The conference quarterfinals are scheduled to begin April 20. 

A two-time NBA Most Valuable Player, Antetokounmpo ranks second in the league in scoring at 30.4 points per game this season and sixth in rebounding at 11.4 boards per game.

Though he's avoided a major, season-ending injury, Antetokounmpo's absence for any length of time could still be a big blow for a Bucks team that has struggled down the stretch. Milwaukee ended a season-high four-game losing streak with Tuesday's win and is just 7-10 since March 6, the ninth-best winning percentage in the East over that time period.

The Bucks have also dealt with a number of key injuries over the course of the season, most notably an ankle sprain to Khris Middleton that sidelined the three-time All-Star for 16 games before he returned in mid-March.

Milwaukee has had its top three core of Antetokounmpo, Middleton and Damian Lillard all available for only five of its 30 games since Feb. 4.

Giannis Antetokounmpo left late in the third quarter with a calf injury, but Patrick Beverley had 20 points and 10 rebounds as the Milwaukee Bucks held on for a 104-91 win over the Boston Celtics on Tuesday in a game that featured an NBA record-low two free-throw attempts.

Antetokounmpo grabbed his left calf and went down as he was heading up the court. The two-time MVP was helped off the floor and he was seen heading to the locker room under his own power.

The Milwaukee superstar was undergoing tests on his left calf and would also have his Achilles tendon tested.

Teammate Damian Lillard said he was encouraged to see Antetokounmpo put weight on his leg after the injury.

Antetokounmpo finished with 15 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, and also attempted the game’s only two free throws.

Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis each scored 15 points for Milwaukee, which snapped a season-high four-game skid.

Jayson Tatum had 22 points and Jaylen Brown added 14 with 10 rebounds for the league-leading Celtics, who had won five straight.

They became the first team in NBA history to go an entire game without attempting a free throw. The previous record for combined attempts in a game was 11.

Edwards’ big night powers Timberwolves

Anthony Edwards poured in a career-high 51 points and the Minnesota Timberwolves erased an early 21-point deficit with a dominant second half to defeat the Washington Wizards, 130-121.

Edwards, who scored 30 points in the second half, surpassed the 49 points he scored against San Antonio on April 7, 2022. His total was tied for the fifth-most points in a game by a Minnesota player.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 23 points and Rudy Gobert had 19 and 16 rebounds to help the Wolves win their eighth in 10 games. They have clinched a top-three seed in the Western Conference and face Denver on Wednesday with a potential No. 1 seed at stake.

The Wolves and Nuggets are tied atop the West, one game ahead of Oklahoma City.

Minnesota improved to 12-5 without All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns, who has been cleared for full-contact, five-on-five basketball activities in anticipation of his return, which could come as soon as Friday.

Warriors sink 26 3s to beat Lakers

Klay Thompson, Stephen Curry and Draymond Green combined to hits 16 of the Warriors’ 26 3-pointers and Golden State capitalised on Anthony Davis’ absence in a 134-120 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.

Thompson scored 27 points and was 5 of 10 from long range, Curry scored 23 and made all six of his 3-point attempts and Green added 15 points and 10 assists while going 5 of 7 from beyond the arc.

The Warriors have won eight of nine to move within a half-game of the ninth-place Lakers.

LeBron James had 33 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists for Los Angeles, which had won eight of nine before back-to-back home losses in the past three days.

Davis sat out due to the aftereffects of being hit in the head by Minnesota’s Kyle Anderson on Sunday.

Jalen Brunson scored 43 points and helped spark a big second-half rally that catapulted the New York Knicks to a 122-109 win over the spiralling Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday.

Both Brunson and Donte DiVincenzo recorded 20 second-half points as the Knicks overcame a 61-50 half-time deficit to hand the Central Division-leading Bucks a season-high fourth straight loss.

Milwaukee has now dropped six of its last seven after winning 11 of its first 15 games after the All-Star break, and its lead over the Knicks and Orlando Magic in the race for the Eastern Conference's No. 2 seed is now down to one game. 

The Bucks did get superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo back from a one-game absence, but forward Khris Middleton did not return after taking an inadvertent elbow to the mouth from DiVincenzo, who finished with 26 points, in the second quarter.

Antetokounmpo, who missed Milwaukee's loss to the non-contending Toronto Raptors on Friday with a sore hamstring, amassed 28 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists. Damian Lillard finished with 23 points for the Bucks, but went just 4 of 11 from the field and 1 of 7 from 3-point range.

Antetokounmpo had 18 first-half points and Lillard 14 as Milwaukee took a double-digit lead into the break, but the Knicks reversed momentum with a red-hot third quarter.

New York shot 73.7 per cent for the period and turned a 10-point deficit into a 70-67 advantage midway through the quarter by embarking on a 14-1 run. 

The Knicks stretched their margin further with a 10-0 spurt early in the fourth quarter that staked them to a 99-87 lead with under nine minutes left.

Milwaukee was able to trim the margin to six points later on but shot just 35 per cent in the fourth quarter, and DiVincenzo helped keep the Bucks at bay by making four 3-pointers in the final period.

Maxey scores career-high 52, 76ers outlast Spurs in double-overtime

Tyrese Maxey gave the short-handed Philadelphia 76ers a needed lift by pouring in a career-high 52 points and leading his team to a hard-earned 133-126 double-overtime win over Victor Wembanyama's San Antonio Spurs.

With Philadelphia resting reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid in the second of a back-to-back and forward Tobias Harris remaining out of the lineup, Maxey notched his third 50-point outing of the season while adding seven assists to will the Sixers to a fifth consecutive win.

Maxey's biggest shot of the night came with time winding down in regulation, when he cut to the basket and took a pass from Nicolas Batum before converting a layup that tied the game at 111-111 with 0.9 seconds on the clock.

The 76ers forced a second overtime with a similar play, as Ricky Council IV found a cutting KJ Martin for a layup with 24.4 seconds to go in the first OT to knot the score at 121-121.

Philadelphia ultimately prevailed by scoring the final 10 points of the second overtime, with Batum delivering the biggest blow with a 3-pointer that put the Sixers up 131-126 with 1:24 left. 

The Spurs were held scoreless after Malaki Branham's 3-pointer broke a 123-123 tie with 3:32 remaining in the second OT, and turned the ball over three times in the final 2:10.

Wembanyama had nine turnovers on the night to offset an otherwise dominant performance from the rookie sensation, who tallied 33 points, 18 rebounds, six assists and seven blocks. 

Branham ended with 22 points, while Kelly Oubre Jr. recorded 26 points on 12-of-22 shooting along with eight rebounds for Philadelphia.

Pelicans down Suns to draw even in West standings

CJ McCollum scored 31 points and Zion Willilamson had 29 to lift the New Orleans Pelicans to a critical 113-105 win over the Phoenix Suns that further clouded the Western Conference's play-off picture.

Williamson added 10 rebounds, seven assists and a career-high five blocks to help New Orleans halt a four-game losing streak and move into a tie with the Suns for sixth place in the West. The top six teams in each conference automatically advance to the quarterfinal round of the postseason, while the seventh through 10th-place finishers will be slotted in the play-in tournament.

Phoenix, which had a three-game winning streak snapped despite 33 points from Bradley Beal, does hold the tie-breaker on New Orleans by winning two of the teams' three meetings this season. Both teams have four games remaining in the regular season. 

The Pelicans never trailed after taking a 97-96 lead on Williamson's layup with 7:19 remaining, though they were unable to pull away until the final stages.

Beal's jumper with 4:02 left to play brought the Suns within 103-101, but Phoenix then went scoreless for nearly two minutes as New Orleans scored the next four points. 

McCollum found WIlliamson for a crucial layup with 29.1 seconds left that gave the Pelicans a 111-105 edge. After Phoenix's Devin Booker misfired on a 3-point try on the ensuing possession, New Orleans' Herb Jones sealed the outcome by making two free throws.

The Pelicans trailed by as many as 12 points in the first quarter, but McCollum tallied 11 points in the second and New Orleans outscored the Suns by a 37-24 margin for the period to go into half-time up 56-50.

New Orleans stretched its lead to 93-83 on Jose Alvarado's 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter, but Beal scored the game's next 10 points to pull Phoenix even.

Booker finished with 25 points but went 0 for 6 from 3-point range. Beal ended 7 of 8 from beyond the arc. 

Head coach Doc Rivers slammed the Milwaukee Bucks after their slump continued against the Toronto Raptors on Friday, saying losing to "bad teams" is inexcusable. 

The Raptors had lost 15 straight games ahead of their trip to Fiserv Forum, but Gary Trent Jr.'s 31 points helped condemn the Bucks to a surprise 117-111 defeat, their fifth loss in six games. 

Milwaukee were without Giannis Antetokounmpo as the two-time NBA MVP battles a hamstring injury, though Damian Lillard returned after three games out to score 36 points. 

However, it wasn't enough for the Bucks, who pulled within two points with 54.5 seconds left but saw Khris Middleton miss a potential go-ahead 3-pointer before four free throws saw Toronto home.

Still occupying second place in the Eastern Conference, Milwaukee are now just one game clear of the Cleveland Cavaliers and two ahead of the Orlando Magic and New York Knicks.

Each of their last three defeats have come against teams who are .351 or lower in the Washington Wizards (15-63), Memphis Grizzlies (27-50) and Toronto (24-53), leaving Rivers enraged. 

"The last three were against pretty bad teams, and to me that's inexcusable for all of us," Rivers said. 

"This is on me. I've got to figure out what we've got to do to play at a higher pace. The defense has to be better. We've got to work ourselves through this."

Lillard echoed those sentiments, adding: "These are situations where we've just got to have discipline and get the job done, and we haven't.

"But if you ask anybody in the league, they'll tell you these are some of the hardest times of the season.

"We've got to take accountability. If it was one of these games, it's alright, the next two should be handled. To have three of them is disappointing. We've just got to do better."

For the Raptors, Friday's win was their first since March 3 against the Charlotte Hornets, with stars RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley having both been absent in recent weeks.

Barrett had 26 points and Quickley had 25 on Friday, leaving coach Darko Rajakovic to sing their praises, saying: "It's great when we have our guys coming back and playing.

"I thought during the whole stretch the team stayed together. It's good to get a win."

Gary Trent Jr.'s 31 points and Immanuel Quickley's near triple-double sparked Toronto to a 117-111 win over Milwaukee on Friday, which ended the Raptors' 15-game losing streak and extended the Bucks' late-season slump.

Quickley compiled 25 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists, while Trent went 7 of 15 from 3-point range to help the Raptors hand Milwaukee a fifth loss in six games. RJ Barrett contributed 26 points to Toronto's first win since March 3.

The Bucks' woes continued despite Damian Lillard returning from a three-game absence to record 36 points. Milwaukee was without its other superstar, however, as Giannis Antetokounmpo was held out with a sore hamstring.

Toronto seemed on the way towards another defeat after trailing 40-30 five minutes into the second quarter, but Trent led a 16-3 run later in the period that gave the Raptors a 56-51 advantage with a minute to go before half-time.

The Raptors eventually pushed the margin to 14 points when a Trent 3-pointer created a 77-63 lead midway through the third quarter, but the Bucks closed the gap later in the period. Lillard capped a 10-2 spurt with a 3-pointer that cut Milwaukee's deficit to 87-84 in the final minute of the third.

Milwaukee had a chance to pull ahead in the late stages, but Khris Middleton missed a potential go-ahead 3-point attempt with the Raptors up 113-111 with 20.4 seconds left. Quickley then made a pair of free throws and the Bucks were held scoreless the rest of the way.

Middleton finished with 21 points and Bobby Portis tallied 19 points with 10 rebounds off the bench for the Bucks.

Washington stars as Mavericks end Warriors' winning streak

P.J. Washington capped a 32-point night with a tie-breaking layup with 4.5 seconds left that lifted the Dallas Mavericks to a 108-106 victory over Golden State which halted the Warriors' season-high six-game winning streak.

After Golden State erased a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit on Stephen Curry's jumper with 13 seconds remaining that tied the game at 106-106, Dallas' Tim Hardaway Jr. found a cutting Washington for an inside basket that put the Mavericks back in front.

Klay Thompson then missed a 3-point shot just before the final buzzer as Dallas held on for its 13th win in its last 15 games.

Washington finished 12 of 18 from the field while stepping up with the Mavericks holding out star guard Luka Dončić in the second of a back-to-back, and Dallas also received a 26-point, eight-rebound, seven-assist effort out of Kyrie Irving.

Curry ended with 28 points, 14 of which came in the fourth quarter as the Warriors battled back from being down 98-88 with under six minutes left.

Golden State also rallied from a slow start, as Dallas built a 29–13 lead less than eight minutes into the game. The Warriors closed out the first quarter on a 19-2 run, however, to take a 32-31 edge into the second.

The game remained tight until the Mavericks scored the first five points of the fourth quarter to open up an 84-76 lead with under 11 minutes left to play.

Fast start propels Suns past Timberwolves

The Phoenix Suns used a quick start and a strong game from Grayson Allen to continue their late-season surge with a 97-87 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Allen gave Phoenix a lift on a night in which All-Star Devin Booker was held to 13 points on 3-of-12 shooting, as the former Duke star recorded 23 points along with eight rebounds.

Kevin Durant added 22 points in the Suns' third consecutive win, while Jusuf Nurkic compiled 11 points, 15 rebounds and six assists.

Booker did have 13 assists and scored the first five points of a 15-0 Phoenix run to open the game. The Suns never trailed at any point, as they shot 55 per cent in the first quarter to build a 32-20 lead and carried a 57-41 advantage into half-time.

Minnesota, on the other hand, struggled to score throughout the evening and fell behind by as many as 23 points in the fourth quarter.

The Timberwolves shot just 38.8 per cent for the game while being dealt just their second defeat in their past eight outings. All-Star Anthony Edwards was 6 of 19 while being limited to 17 points, while starting forward Naz Reid managed just eight points on 3-of-13 shooting.

Monday's loss dropped Minnesota into a tie with the Denver Nuggets for first place in the Western Conference.

Giannis Antetokounmpo's greatness may be taken for granted by the Milwaukee Bucks, according to coach Doc Rivers, whose side overcame the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday.

The Bucks snapped Atlanta's four-game winning streak with a 122-113 triumph as Antetokounmpo managed 36 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists.

Antetokounmpo also made 12 of 16 free throws, with Rivers suggesting Milwaukee may overlook how much they rely on their star man.

"As I said, we take him for granted," Rivers said. "I thought he played as clean a game as he can play."

"I was really happy with the way we played overall because they did what they do, come out and make 3s."

Patrick Beverley scored 18 points as the fill-in starting point guard, despite concerns over his availability due to a wrist injury.

"He wanted to protect me, as a coach should," Beverley said of Rivers after playing 36 minutes and having five assists with no turnovers.

Hawks coach Quin Snyder acknowledged his team struggled to stop Antetokounmpo.

That plight was not aided by the fact Atlanta were missing Onyeka Okongwu and Jalen Johnson.

"It really does require multiple players to limit his ability to get to the rim," Snyder said.

Austin Reaves notched a triple-double and drilled a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 37.8 seconds left in the second overtime as the Los Angeles Lakers rallied to beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 128-124, on Tuesday despite the absence of LeBron James.

Reaves had 29 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists in 47 minutes, Anthony Davis tallied 34 points and 23 rebounds in 52 minutes and D’Angelo Russell had 29 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds.

The Lakers, who never led in regulation, overcame a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter and won their season-best fourth straight game with James sidelined with an ankle issue.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 29 points, a season-high 21 boards and 11 assists and Damian Lillard added 21 points for the Bucks, who had won six straight at home.

Reaves’ 3-pointer with 38 seconds left in the second OT snapped a tie and Lillard missed a 3 before Antetokounmpo missed two free throws. Russell then sank a pair from the line and Davis sealed the win with two free throws with two seconds left after Malik Beasley’s 3 drew Milwaukee within two.

Doncic keeps Mavericks rolling

Luka Dončić scored 26 of his 28 points in the first half and the Dallas Mavericks cruised to their fifth straight victory, 132-96 over the Sacramento Kings.

Doncic added 11 rebounds, six assists and three steals and Kyrie Irving had 24 points and eight assists for Dallas, which has won nine of 10 to move into sixth in the Western Conference.

De’Aaron Fox scored 18 points on 6-of-18 shooting and Domantas Sabonis had 12 points, 11 boards and nine assists for his 55th consecutive double-double, tying Jerry Lucas for the longest streak in franchise history.

Thunder ride late run past Pelicans

Jalen Williams scored 26 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder used a game-ending 12-0 run to rally for a 119-112 win over the New Orleans Pelicans after blowing a 20-point lead in the third quarter.

Josh Giddey added 25 points and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 24, including a tying 3-pointer with 89 seconds left.

Zion Williamson had 29 points and 10 assists for the Pelicans, who led 112-107 with 3:11 to play before missing their final five shots.

The Thunder won for the fifth time in six games to pull within a half game of idle Denver for the top spot in the Western Conference.

Giannis Antetokounmpo has no time left for excuses after the Milwaukee Bucks put injury struggles to one side in a convincing victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Bucks star Antetokounmpo recorded 30 points and a season-high 19 rebounds, while Khris Middleton registered his second career triple-double in Sunday's 118-93 thrashing of the Thunder.

Middleton had missed 16 straight games with a sprained left ankle, while Antetokounmpo returned for Thursday's victory over the Brooklyn Nets after missing two games due to an issue with his left hamstring.

Indeed, Sunday was the first time Antetokounmpo, Middleton and seven-time All-NBA guard Damian Lillard had shared the court since February 3.

"I just feel this appreciation of having everybody healthy and available to play," Antetokounmpo said.

"When we're not healthy, I think sometimes we play well, sometimes we don't, sometimes we create this excuse in our mind that like, 'OK, when he gets back, we're going to be better.' 

"But now we're all here. There are no more excuses."

Middleton had 11 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for his first triple-double since January 2018 and echoed Antetokounmpo's sentiment.

"With a full team out there, we realise what we can do," said Middleton. "We have so many guys, so many weapons that can carry us, or guys that can make a play or just attract a crowd."

In total, Milwaukee had seven players score in double figures as Bobby Portis posted 15 points, Brook Lopez 14, Lillard and Pat Connaughton 11 each and Jae Crowder 10.

"Just having everybody together makes the game easier for everybody,” Antetokounmpo added. "We don't have to force anything. We just keep on playing good basketball, keep on moving the ball.

"There's going to be some nights that it's going to be my night. There's going to be some nights that it's going to be Khris' night. There's going to be some nights that it's going to be Dame's night.

"But we don't have to force anything. Everybody out there is a threat. I think our bench is unbelievable, and they keep on getting better."

Such was Milwaukee's control, Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 12 points – the first time since January 16 he has been held below 20 – and sat out the entire fourth quarter as the Bucks dominated.

"They had him in a crowd for much of the night and made it very difficult for him to get his cracks," Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said of Gilgeous-Alexander.

"I thought as a team, just our overall pace and sharpness on offense wasn't where it needed to be."

Giannis Antetokounmpo is aiming to control the controllables after he returned to action with a 21-point haul in Thursday's win over the Brooklyn Nets.

Antetokounmpo had missed the Milwaukee Bucks' win over the Phoenix Suns and their defeat to the Boston Celtics with a hamstring issue.

But the two-time NBA MVP wasted little time in getting back to form, finishing with 21 points, nine rebounds and five assists in a 115-108 victory over the Nets.

"You try to control what you can control," Antetokounmpo said.

"Things like this [injury] are going to pop up now and then.

"Kind of unexpected, but at the end of the day, these are the cards you've been dealt, and you just have to keep on figuring it out, keep on playing through pain, playing through adversity."

Damian Lillard, meanwhile, recorded at least 30 points for a third straight game for the Bucks, as he finished with 30 points and 12 assists.

However, his most important plays were arguably late steals that helped Milwaukee, who occupy second in the Eastern Conference, seal the win.

Lillard said: "I think in my career, I haven't been known as a defender, but down the stretch of games, I've always been able to have a moment or do what I needed to do at the end of the game defensively."

Bucks coach Doc Rivers was effusive in his praise of Lillard, saying: "Dame defensively was phenomenal, all game.

"He's a very competitive guy, and you could see that."

Rivers also explained his decision to give Khris Middleton a rest, after he had played two straight games after missing 16 due to an ankle issue.

"He's been out all these games, and he's playing great," Rivers said. "We just want to keep him where he's at."

The Nets, meanwhile, have now lost five straight games and sit out of the playoff picture in the East as it stands.

Interim coach Kevin Ollie was able to take the positives, however.

"We didn't get a win, but I really believe that we grew tonight," he said.

"That's the message I've been telling them since I took over. I just want them to grow."

Joe Mazzulla is taking nothing for granted despite seeing his Boston Celtics team overcome the Milwaukee Bucks in what could be a prelude to a playoff game.

The Celtics won 122-119 on Wednesday, with the Bucks - who sit second in the Eastern Conference, but 11 games behind runaway leaders Boston - unable to get over the line in the absence of Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Jayson Tatum scored 31 points for the Celtics, who have now won seven games on the bounce.

Mazzulla, however, does not necessarily see the win as a preview of what could come in the postseason.

He said: "Nothing's guaranteed in life.

"We may see them; they may see us; we may not. You never know what's going to happen.

"I know both teams are developing an identity and there's obviously a DNA there that both teams have. But you don't want to overthink things. And you don't take anything for granted."

Payton Pritchard chipped in with 19 points for the Celtics, while Derrick White had 23 and Jaylen Brown finished with 21.

"Everybody always had talked about his shooting," Mazzulla said of Pritchard.

"But I think this year, in particular, he’s been impacting by his rebounding, impacting by his defense, his pace.

"He's just becoming a really well-rounded player who knows he can have a positive impact on the game in many different ways, and it's a huge asset for us."

Pritchard, meanwhile, said he was motivated by an insult dished out to teammate Luke Kornet by the Bucks' Patrick Beverley, who seemingly mocked the Boston man for his height.

"It kind of lit a fire under me," said Pritchard.

"He's trying to clown one of our teammates. So I definitely took it a little personally."

Jayson Tatum scored 31 points and the Boston Celtics held on for their seventh straight victory, 122-119 over a Milwaukee Bucks team missing two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo on Wednesday.

Derrick White had 23 points and eight assists and Jaylen Brown added 21 with eight rebounds for the league-leading Celtics, who improved to 32-3 at home and are cruising to the top seed in the Eastern Conference.

Damian Lillard led the Bucks with 32 points and Bobby Portis had 24 points and 15 boards for Milwaukee, which dropped to 3-2 this season without Antetokounmpo and remained one game up on Cleveland for the Central Division lead.

Boston led by as many as 21 points but Milwaukee got the deficit down to 116-114 on Portis’ jumper with 32 seconds left.

Brown and Tatum each sank two free throws around a missed layup by Lillard and two more free throws by Tatum with seven seconds to play sealed it.

Rozier sparks Heat past Cavaliers

Terry Rozier scored nine of his 24 points in the final 84 seconds, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 14.5 left on the clock, to lift the Miami Heat to a 107-104 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Rozier converted a 4-point play before sinking a 26-footer that gave the Heat a 105-102 lead. Two free throws by Georges Niang made it a one-point game before Rozier followed with two of his own with 2.8 seconds remaining.

Darius Garland’s off-balance 3 at the buzzer failed to fall and Cleveland dropped its third straight home game despite getting 25 points and 20 rebounds from Jarrett Allen.

Jimmy Butler scored 30 points for Miami, which has won three of four following a four-game skid.

Holmgren’s big game powers Thunder

Chet Holmgren scored 35 points and matched a career high with 14 rebounds to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 119-107 win over the Utah Jazz.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 31 points to become the 13th player in NBA history to score 30 points or more in 50 games.

Jalen Williams chipped in 18 points for the Thunder, who moved into the top spot in the Western Conference, one-half game ahead of Denver.

Collin Sexton scored 25 points for Utah, which played without Lauri Markkanen and Jordan Clarkson – two of the team’s top three scorers. The Jazz have lost three straight and six of seven.

Cameron Payne felt the Philadelphia 76ers found "the right juice" against the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday, but it wasn't enough as Giannis Antetokounmpo led the championship hopefuls to victory.

Antetokounmpo scored 32 points and added 11 rebounds as the Bucks rallied for a 114-105 win over the 76ers, who had led 83-80 at the start of the fourth quarter.

However, the Bucks inched ahead of their short-handed visitors with eight minutes on the clock, then AJ Green added three free-throws and a 3-pointer to open up a commanding lead.

The Sixers have now lost 13 of 20 games without reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid, who hopes to return before the end of the season after undergoing surgery to repair the lateral meniscus in his left knee.

However, both Payne and head coach Nick Nurse sought to take the positives from Thursday's performance. 

"I feel like we had the right juice today. We had fun and it showed on the court," Payne said after finishing with 13 points in support of Tyrese Maxey, who had 30. 

Nurse echoed that view, saying: "I think the effort was really good. We were doing a lot of things we wanted to do. We turned them over a bunch in the first half. 

"Probably the difference in the game was that we didn't quite get to as many turnovers in the second. But I thought we did a lot of really good things."

The victory – Milwaukee's third in a row on home turf – improved the Bucks to 43-24, a record which is good enough for second place in the Eastern Conference behind the 52-14 Boston Celtics. 

"They were the instigators throughout the entire first three quarters," Bucks coach Doc Rivers said. "I thought in the fourth quarter it flipped."

The Sacramento Kings delivered their most complete performance of the season as they snapped a long winless run against the Milwaukee Bucks.

Sacramento won 129-94 on Tuesday, defeating the Bucks for the first time since February 2016.

That 15-game losing streak was the longest active such run of any team in the NBA.

De'Aaron Fox led the Kings with 29 points, while Domantas Sabonis had 22 points and 11 rebounds. He has now set a new Kings single-season record, with what was his 47th successive double-double. 

As good as the Kings' offense was, however, Fox wanted to praise the defense.

"I think defensively we did a great job," Fox said.

"I think that fuelled our offense. Obviously, we scored 130 points, but even if we didn't play that well offensively, if we have an even below-average game, score 110, we still win this game by 15.

"I think this was one of the most complete games that we've played this year."

Speaking of his teammate Sabonis, Fox added: "Night in, night out, he's come up big for us.

"I think people are immune to it. No one outside of basically us talks about it. But that's obviously a hard thing to do and there's not many people have done it. He comes ready to play every night."

While Giannis Antetokounmpo had 30 points and 13 rebounds, Bucks coach Doc Rivers said his team did not deserve anything but a defeat, and he took full responsibility.

"We deserved it tonight," said Rivers.

"It's my fault. I didn't get them prepared the way I should mentally. At shootaround, guys were talking about planes leaving.

"As a staff, we talked about it after shootaround that if our focus is not better than this morning, it's going to be a long day. And it was a long day. So that's on us."