Best of NBA: Antetokounmpo Rocks Career-high as Bucks Cruise

MILWAUKEE -- Giannis Antetokounmpo had a career-high 39 points and the Milwaukee Bucks had no trouble beating the Washington Wizards 123-96 on Friday night.

Milwaukee scored a season-high in the first half to lead 73-58 and cruised to victory. It was the most points given up in a half this season by the Wizards.

Antetokounmpo made 12 of 19 shots and 15 of 17 free throws with eight rebounds and six assists in 33 minutes. With the Bradley Center crowd loudly chanting "M-V-P," the 6-foot-11 forward missed a free throw with just over 6 minutes left that would have given him 40 points.

The Bucks led 109-82 at the time, and two possessions later Milwaukee coach Jason Kidd removed Antetokounmpo for the rest of the game.

John Wall and Otto Porter each scored 18 points for Washington, but the Wizards trailed 100-78 after three quarters and neither played in the fourth quarter. Wall had 10 assists in just under 32 minutes (see full recap).

Westbrook triple-double leads Thunder past Celtics 117-112
BOSTON -- Russell Westbrook had his 14th triple-double of the season and his third straight 40-point game, scoring 45 points with 11 assists and 11 rebounds on Friday night to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 117-112 victory over the Boston Celtics.

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Westbrook missed his first five shots but scored the last seven points of the first half as the Thunder turned a three-point deficit into a four-point lead. He scored 18 in the fourth quarter, including eight straight during a 10-0 run that flipped a 104-100 deficit into a six-point lead.

Rookie Domantas Sabonis topped his career high by halftime and finished with 20 points for Oklahoma City, which had lost three of its previous five games. Enes Kanter had 20 points off the bench.

Isaiah Thomas had 34 points and 10 assists and Al Horford scored 23 points for Boston, which had won a season-high four straight games (see full recap).

Cousins' 32 lead Kings back against Timberwolves, 109-105, despite LaVine's 40
MINNEAPOLIS -- DeMarcus Cousins scored 32 points, including 21 in the second half, and the Sacramento Kings came back to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 109-105 on Friday night.

Cousins hit three 3-pointers and added seven rebounds and seven assists for Sacramento, which has won four of its past five games. Anthony Tolliver came off the bench to go 5 of 7 on 3s and score 17 points as the Kings hit a season-high 15 3-pointers. Sacramento was 15 of 29 from beyond the arc.

Zach LaVine scored a career-high 40 points and tied a career best with seven 3s for Minnesota. Karl-Anthony Towns tallied his 10th straight double-double with 20 points and 13 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who had won three of their previous four games.

Ricky Rubio had a season-high 13 points, all in the third, as the Timberwolves opened a nine-point lead.

The Kings' bench had a strong effort to back Cousins for the second straight game. Tolliver and Ty Lawson led the way as the Sacramento's reserves outscored Minnesota's bench 45-11 (see full recap).

Conley scores 24 points, Grizzlies beat Rockets 115-109
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Mike Conley scored 24 points and Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol each added 16 to help the Memphis Grizzlies beat the Houston Rockets 115-109 on Friday night.

Memphis snapped a three-game home skid and ended Houston's road winning streak at five.

Vince Carter made a pair of 3-pointers during a 10-0 Grizzlies run early in the fourth quarter that broke it open. Houston led 78-77 to start the final period on a Patrick Beverley 3-pointer.

But Memphis outscored the Rockets 21-5 over the next 5 minutes and took a 98-83 lead on Jarell Martin's putback dunk with 6:51 left.

Ryan Anderson led Houston with a season-high 31 points. James Harden had 16 points and 17 assists (see full recap).

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