Giannis Antetokounmpo had 24 points and 13 rebounds, while Pat Connaughton added 20 points off the bench as the Milwaukee Bucks beat the depleted Denver Nuggets 120-109 on Friday for their sixth straight win.
Antetokounmpo hit 10 of 13 shots in just 30 minutes and the Bucks never trailed in winning by double digits for the third straight game.
A matchup of the past two MVPs did not happen, as Nikola Jokic, who won last season in becoming the first Denver player to capture the award, missed his fourth straight game with a sprained right wrist.
Michael Porter Jr has not played since Nov. 6 due to lower-back soreness and P.J. Dozier sustained a torn ACL in his left knee on Tuesday in Portland.
Aaron Gordon led the Nuggets with 19 points and nine rebounds.
Will Barton scored 17 and Facu Campazzo finished with 16 points for Denver.
Milwaukee threatened to run the Nuggets the court from the start. The Bucks led 24-8 early in the first quarter and were up by 17 points in the second quarter before Denver made a run to get within 48-43 with 3 minutes, 45 seconds left in the period.
In other games on Friday, it was:
‧ Clippers 107, Pistons 96
‧ Grizzlies 100, Hawks 132
‧ Hornets 133, T’wolves 115
‧ Jazz 97, Pelicans 98
‧ Knicks 97, Suns 118
‧ Magic 88, Bulls 123
‧ Pacers 114, Raptors 97
‧ Spurs 96, Celtics 88
‧ Thunder 99, Wizards 101
‧ Warriors 118, Trail Blazers 103
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