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MILWAUKEE (AP) — Rui Hachimura scored 26 and Kristaps Porzingis scored 22 as the Washington Wizards beat the short-handed Milwaukee Bucks 118-95 on Sunday night for a season-high five-game winning streak.
The brawling Bucks played without Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was sidelined with a sore left knee. Antetokounmpo is averaging 38 points and 14.6 rebounds in his last six games, including 43 points and 20 rebounds against Minnesota on Friday night, breaking Milwaukee’s four-game losing streak.
Drew Holiday was also sidelined with an illness, while Khris Middleton missed eight straight games with a sore right knee.
Daniel Gafford gave the Wizards 17 points (17-21), but the Wizards weren’t strong enough either. They played without top scorer Bradley Beal, who is dealing with a sore left hamstring.
Bobby Portis led Milwaukee with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Jevon Carter had 14 points and Grayson Allen had 13 points and eight assists.
Washington set the pace to 34-17 after the first quarter with Gafford’s 13 points as the Wizards capitalized on a two-center lineup with Bucks big man Brook Lopez off the bench early in foul trouble. Milwaukee made 26 percent of the shots and made just 3 of 14 long-range shots in that period, while the Wizards made half of them.
The Wizards led by 26 in the second quarter and held a 68-50 advantage at halftime. Washington shot 57.4% in the first half, while Milwaukee only shot 34.6%.
Washington easily maintained control throughout the second half as the cold-shooting Bucks failed to mount sustained runs.
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Wizards: F Taj Gibson has missed two games in a row with a sore left groin. “I don’t want to push it to the point that this could last longer than it should,” said coach West Unseld Jr. … Gafford, who averaged 7.1 points per game, scored his eight points for the first time in Washington. … Washington scored 72 points in the paint.
Bucks: G George Hill also sat out due to illness. …Joe Ingles was charged with a technical foul in the first quarter after exchanging words with Porzingis, who also received a technical. … Milwaukee suffered his fourth loss in just 19 home games this season.
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The teams will meet again on Tuesday night in Milwaukee.
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Other AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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