By: Rani S
Giannis Antetokounmpo returned to basketball following a six-game absence. In his return game, he scored 23 points in 24 minutes as the Milwaukee Bucks beat the visiting Los Angeles Clippers 116-110 on Thursday.
After sitting out one game with right knee pain, Antetokounmpo missed the past five games as well as All-Star weekend with a strained left calf. He was on a minutes restriction against the Clippers and rested for much of the fourth quarter as the Bucks gained control in the final minutes, but he still grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.
Brook Lopez scored 22 points, Damian Lillard added 15 and Taurean Prince had 14 for Milwaukee, which outscored the Clippers by 15 in the fourth quarter.
Los Angeles led 29-28 at the end of one period after the teams combined for four 3-pointers in the final 33 seconds, including Kuzma's 55-foot shot at the buzzer.
Lopez hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cap a 17-5 run and put Milwaukee ahead 49-40 with 4:21 left in the second quarter. Lopez and Kuzma had 11 points apiece in the first half for the Bucks, who led 57-50 at intermission.
The Clippers stormed back in the third quarter, outscoring Milwaukee 39-23 for the period. Porter put up nine points in the final two minutes of the quarter to help the Clippers move ahead 89-80.
After Harden scored to give Los Angeles a 100-93 lead with 7:12 left in regulation, Lopez capped an 11-1 run with a 3-pointer to put Milwaukee ahead 104-101 with 5:25 to go.
Milwaukee played without forward Bobby Portis, who was suspended earlier in the day by the NBA for 25 games for violating the league's anti-drug policy.