UNDATED (AP) — The Milwaukee Bucks are within a half-game of Miami for the NBA’s Eastern Conference lead, and with a game in hand on the Heat.
Giannis Antetokounmpo became the Bucks’ all-time scoring leader before hitting two free throws with three seconds left, giving Milwaukee a 120-119 win over the Nets. Antetokounmpo finished with 44 points, 14 rebounds and six assists as the Bucks clinched a playoff berth. He passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the team scoring leader by hitting a 3-pointer that forced overtime.
Kris Middleton had 16 points and nine boards before his ejection for a flagrant foul.
Kevin Durant had 26 points and Kyrie Irving 25 for Brooklyn, which fell into an eighth-place tie with Charlotte in the East.
Checking out Thursday’s other NBA action:
— Saddiq Bey scored half of his 20 points in the final 4 ½ minutes of the Pistons’ 102-94 victory over the 76ers. Bey provided seven points in a 9-0 run that gave the Pistons a 102-89 lead with 1:54 to play. Cade Cunningham scored 27 points to help Detroit withstand Joel Embiid’s 37 points and 15 rebounds.
— DeMar DeRozan poured in a season-high 50 points and the Bulls rallied to beat the Clippers, 135-130 in overtime. DeRozan finished two points shy of his career high, providing 17 in the fourth quarter and 10 in OT. Nikola Vucevic added 22 points and 14 rebounds for Chicago, which trailed by 16 in the third period.
— Donovan Mitchell scored 29 points and Rudy Gobert had a double-double as the Jazz dumped the Lakers, 122-109 to end a five-game losing streak. Gobert delivered 25 points and 17 boards for the Jazz, who are trying to stay out of a Western Conference play-in game. Jordan Clarkson scored 19 points for Utah, Mike Conley added 18 and Bojan Bogdanovic 11 in his return from injury.
— Trae Young scored 30 points and the surging Hawks never trailed in their fourth straight win, 131-107 over the struggling Cavaliers. Kevin Huerter continued his strong finish to the regular season with 23 points, his fourth consecutive game with at least 20 points. Clint Capela added 12 points with 14 rebounds in helping Atlanta wrap up a berth in the play-in round.
