National Basketball Association
Milwaukee 109, Brooklyn 100
When: 8:00 PM ET, Sunday, March 13, 2016
Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York
Officials: #6 Tony Brown, #37 Eric Dalen, #9 Derrick Stafford
Attendance: 15241

NEW YORK -- Early in the second quarter, Giannis Antetokounmpo raced near the foul line, lifted off and soared through the air for a thunderous dunk reminiscent of slams by Hall of Famers Michael Jordan and Julius Erving.

There were numerous highlights for Antetokounmpo, but perhaps the biggest thrills occurred in the fourth quarter when he made history and helped seal a win for the Milwaukee Bucks.

Antetokounmpo became the first Milwaukee player to collect four triple-doubles in a season, and his 28 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds helped the Bucks score a 109-100 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday.

The second-year forward nearly amassed his latest triple-double by halftime, when he had 12 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. Among those was the running dunk early in the second quarter when Milwaukee held an eight-point lead.

"At this point, you see him every day, it doesn't surprise you," Bucks center Greg Monroe said. "He makes the plays maybe one or two other people in the league can make."

Antetokounmpo nearly became the first player to get a triple-double in a half since current Milwaukee coach Jason Kidd did it in the second half for the Dallas Mavericks on Feb. 26, 2010. At halftime, Antetokounmpo had 12 points, nine assists and eight rebounds.

"That's what I was trying to do in order to make the right plays and find the open guy," said Antetokounmpo, who has all of his triple-doubles in the past 11 games since Feb. 22. "Doing that, you've got to stay aggressive. If you're always looking for the pass, it's going to be there. That's what I did wrong in the first couple of minute, so in the second quarter I came out more aggressive, and so I found the basket more open."

He reached his 16th double-double by assisting on a 3-pointer by Khris Middleton with 10:59 left in the third quarter. Antetokounmpo notched his fourth triple-double by rebounding a missed 8-footer by Brooklyn center Brook Lopez with 4:26 remaining in the game.

"It's special," Milwaukee forward Jabari Parker said. "I always want to see my teammates succeed, so I want to milk that cow as much as possible."

Kidd said, "Tonight he was able to do everything."

When Antetokounmpo officially clinched the triple-double, the game was in a 96-96 deadlock.

Besides getting the milestone, he helped Milwaukee overcome a seven-point deficit by scoring nine straight points. The Bucks never trailed after Antetokounmpo found Miles Plumlee for a reverse dunk with 3:20 left. The Bucks sealed their third consecutive win on a 3-pointer by Middleton and a layup Monroe.

Besides Antetokounmpo's latest highlights, others contributed for the Bucks, who had 13 steals, 41 assists and 66 points in the paint. Parker added 23 points, Middleton finished with 19 and Monroe contributed 14.

Being unable to contain Antetokounmpo contributed to Brooklyn's fourth straight loss along, as did committing 12 of its 21 turnovers during the fourth quarter.

"Clearly he's a highly skilled, two-way player," Nets interim coach Tony Brown said. "He had a triple-double. He had a great game. I don't know what else to tell you. You saw it."

Lopez finished with 20 points but was scoreless in the fourth quarter. Sean Kilpatrick added 19 points, while Thaddeus Young had 17 when he wasn't trying to guard Antetokounmpo.

"It was very tough," Young said. "He puts a lot of pressure on you. He's very aggressive and he has a green light, and anytime you run into a guy with a green light, he's going to make it hard on you because he knows he can put up however many shots he wants to put up."

NOTES: Milwaukee coach Jason Kidd made his first visit to Brooklyn since GM Billy King was fired Jan. 10. Asked about the recent changes, Kidd, a former Nets coach, who lost a power struggle with King said: "I can't pay attention to that. I got my own issues." ... Brooklyn G Wayne Ellington (upper respiratory) sat out. ... The Bucks had plane trouble getting to New York for Sunday's game. Instead of flying out after Saturday's win over New Orleans, the Bucks spent Saturday night in Milwaukee and flew out Sunday morning. ... Kidd said he didn't know F Khris Middleton was two assists shy of a triple-double when he took him out Saturday. He said he told Middleton he "owes him one." ... C Brook Lopez is the remaining Net from Kidd's one season coaching the team in 2013-14.
Top Game Performances
 
Milwaukee   Brooklyn
Giannis Antetokounmpo 28 Scoring Brook Lopez 20
Giannis Antetokounmpo 14 Assists Bojan Bogdanovic 7
Giannis Antetokounmpo 11 Rebounds Thaddeus Young 10
Giannis Antetokounmpo 4 Free Throws Made Brook Lopez 4
Khris Middleton 5 Steals Sergey Karasev 1
Giannis Antetokounmpo 2 Blocks Brook Lopez 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Milwaukee 109 50.6 6-14 13-21 27 41 3 13 13
Brooklyn 100 55.7 12-27 10-13 25 31 6 3 21
Upcoming Games
  • Brooklyn will play their next game at home against Philadelphia. The Nets have a W/L % of .167 after a win and .312 after a loss.
  • Milwaukee will play their next game at home against Toronto. The Bucks have a W/L % of .429 after a win and .436 after a loss.