LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo finished with a triple double as the Milwaukee Bucks continued their best NBA start in franchise history by clobbering the Sacramento Kings 144-109 on Sunday.
Antetokounmpo finished with 26 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists, securing his second triple double of the season with his 10th assist at the end of the third quarter.
“A great win for the team,” Antetokounmpo said. “When I drove the ball, they were wide open. I passed it, and they knocked down everything.”
Milwaukee, who improved to 8-1 on the season, recorded a season-high for points in a game and made a franchise record 22 threes.
Antetokounmpo’s first triple-double came against the Philadelphia 76ers on October 24th when he delivered 32 points, 18 rebounds and 10 assists.
Antetokounmpo passed to Pat Connaughton in the corner for his 10th assist as Connaughton drained a three pointer to give the Bucks a 108-82 lead at the end of the third.
With Milwaukee comfortably ahead 118-90 Antetokounmpo went to the bench for good.
Rookie coach Mike Budenholzer said Antetokounmpo makes the others around him better players.
“Hopefully, one of the keys to Giannis being great is everybody around him being great,” he said. “We can also talk about a lot of other guys who played well, too. So, that’s a great sign for Giannis and a great sign for us.”
Seven other Bucks were in double figures. Eric Bledsoe scored 17, Ersan Ilyasova 15, Malcolm Brogdon and Connaughton each had 13, Tony Snell and Khris Middleton each had 12 and John Henson 10.
Justin Jackson set a career-high with 22 points, Buddy Hield had 19 and De’Aaron Fox 15 for the Kings who had their five-game winning streak snapped.
© Agence France-Presse
