Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 24 points to lead six Milwaukee Bucks scorers in double figures as the Eastern Conference leaders defeated the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night.
Khris Middleton added 23 points, Malcolm Brogdon scored 18, Eric Bledsoe and former Pelicans forward Nikola Mirotic had 14 each and Brook Lopez 13.
Elfrid Payton had his second consecutive triple-double for the Pelicans, who lost their fourth straight game, finishing with 14 points, a career-high 15 rebounds and 11 assists. He is the first New Orleans player to have a triple-double in consecutive games since Chris Paul did it in 2008.
Julius Randle had 23 points, Anthony Davis had 21 points and 12 rebounds, Frank Jackson scored 14, Darius Miller 13, Cheick Diallo 11 and Ian Clark 10.
Milwaukee led by eight at half-time and Middleton and Brogdon made consecutive three-pointers to help increase the lead to 68-54. The Bucks pushed the lead to 84-62 on Bledsoe’s three-pointer before Davis got hot.
He scored 10 consecutive Pelicans points during the quarter, and New Orleans cut the deficit to 101-89 at the end of the third period.
After the Pelicans pulled within seven points at 105-98, Milwaukee scored the next eight points to extend their advantage and make the game safe
Davis finished with 17 points in the quarter, but he did not play in the fourth quarter as has become the norm under the minutes restriction the Pelicans have imposed on him since his trade request at the end of January.