MILWAUKEE — Giannis Antetokounmpo figured the Portland Trail Blazers might be tired on the second night of a back-to-back. He was right.
Antetokounmpo matched his season high with 33 points and finished an assist short of a triple-double in three quarters as the Milwaukee Bucks defeated Portland 143-100 on Wednesday night.
Antetokounmpo added 16 rebounds and nine assists in 30 minutes as the Bucks avenged an early season loss to Portland in a rematch of teams off to fast starts.
“We did the job tonight setting the tone for the entire team,” Antetokounmpo said. “We know they were coming off a back-to-back, so we wanted to come out with energy and get an early lead.”
Milwaukee, which lost at Portland 118-103 on Nov. 6, led the entire way and picked up its 13th win in 17 games. The Blazers were coming off a 118-114 victory Tuesday night in New York against the Knicks.
CJ McCollum and Damian Lillard each had 22 points for the Trail Blazers, who entered with the best record in the Western Conference and slipped to 12-6.