BATTLE OF THE LEADERS: Bucks triumph over Lakers

Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo drives past Los Angeles Lakers’ Dwight Howard during the second half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019, in Milwaukee. The Bucks won 111-104. | AP Photo

MILWAUKEE — Giannis Antetokounmpo had 34 points and 11 rebounds, and the Milwaukee Bucks beat LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers 111-104 Thursday night (Friday morning, December 20, 2019, Philippine time) in a showdown of the NBA’s top teams.

Antetokounmpo had seven assists and a career-best five 3-pointers, and George Hill added 21 points off the bench for the Bucks. Milwaukee improved to 25-4 after ending an 18-game winning streak against Dallas on Monday night.

James had 21 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists for his seventh triple-double of the season, and Anthony Davis had 36 points and 10 rebounds for Los Angeles. The Lakers dropped to 24-5 largely because their bench was outscored 34-4 by the Bucks’ reserves.

Milwaukee led by six after the first quarter then opened the second with a 20-7 run. Davis and James combined to shoot 6 for 20 in the first half, and the Lakers had 10 turnovers. The Bucks led 65-46 at the break.

The Bucks improved to 3-0 against the two teams from Los Angeles, including a dominant 119-91 win over the Clippers at home on Dec. 6.

The last time two teams that were 20 games over .500 played each other before Jan. 1 was 1980. The Boston Celtics (28-8) played the Suns (32-8) in Phoenix. Boston won 116-97.