Jrue Holiday scores career-high 51 points, Bucks beat Pacers
Jrue #Jrue
Jrue Holiday scored a career-high 51 points, Giannis Antetokounmpo had 38 points in a triple-double and the NBA-leading Milwaukee Bucks beat the Indiana Pacers 149-136 on Wednesday night.
Antetokounmpo added 17 rebounds and 12 assists to help the Bucks improve to 55-21. The two-time NBA MVP was an assist shy of a triple-double at halftime with 20 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. He returned after sitting out Monday night in a victory at Detroit because of a sore knee.
Holiday had 18 points in the third quarter, when the Bucks scored a season-high 46 points to build a 12-point lead. He was 20 of 30 from the field with three 3-pointers and hit 8 of 10 free throws. His previous best was 40 points in an overtime victory over visiting Boston on Feb. 14.
Brook Lopez added 21 points for the Bucks.
Rookie Bennedict Mathurin led Indiana — playing without its top three scorers — with 29 points. Aaron Nesmith had 22 and Jordan Nwora 18. Jalen Smith fouled out early in the fourth with 17. Rookie Andrew Nembhard had 15 points and 15 rebounds.
76ERS 116, MAVERICKS 108
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Joel Embiid had 25 points and nine rebounds, James Harden added 15 points and 12 assists and Philadelphia beat Dallas.
Embiid flashed his MVP credentials when he powered the Sixers back in the fourth against Luka Doncic and the Mavs. Embiid hit a 3-pointer to tie it at 103 and followed with a 16-footer the next time down for what ended up the winning basket.
Doncic had 24 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. Kyrie Irving scored 23 points for the Mavericks.
Tyrese Maxey added 22 points to help the 76ers snap a three-game losing streak. They returned from a 1-3 trip.
KNICKS 101, HEAT 92
NEW YORK (AP) — Immanuel Quickly scored 24 points, Quentin Grimes had 23 and New York moved closer to a postseason berth with a victory night that sent Miami closer to the play-in tournament.
The Knicks overcame the loss of Julius Randle to a sprained left ankle to win their second straight and remained firmly in fifth place in the Eastern Conference. They are 2 1/2 games ahead of Brooklyn four games ahead of the seventh-place Heat.
Gabe Vincent scored 21 points for Miami.
NETS 123, ROCKETS 114
NEW YORK (AP) — Cam Johnson had 31 points, Mikal Bridges scored 12 of his 27 in the fourth quarter and Brooklyn rallied to beat Houston.
Johnson and Bridges came over together from Phoenix in the trade that sent Kevin Durant to the Suns. Durant finally made his home debut for Phoenix on Wednesday night.
Nic Claxton added 18 points and 10 rebounds for Brooklyn.
Kevin Porter Jr. had 31 points, nine rebounds and six assists for Houston. The Rockets have lost seven in a row.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
This story originally appeared in San Diego Union-Tribune.