Damian Lillard scored 27 points, Malik Beasley added 20 and the Milwaukee Bucks overcame a 37-point effort from LaMelo Ball to beat the Charlotte Hornets 130-99 on Friday night and remain unbeaten in NBA In-Season Tournament play.

.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 16 points, nine assists and eight rebounds for the Bucks, who’ve won three straight. Beasley had six 3s and Lillard five as the Bucks went 22 of 45 from beyond the arc and outscored the Hornets 38-18 in the fourth quarter.

Milwaukee’s victory sets up a key showdown on Nov. 28 in Miami against the Heat, the only other undefeated team in East Group B in what might determine who’ll advance to the single-elimination knockout stage.

Both teams are 2-0 in tournament play.

Miles Bridges of Charlotte looked well in his first NBA game in 583 days, scoring 17 points in 33 minutes on 6-of-13 shooting. Bridges’ involvement in a domestic violence incident in 2022 caused him to miss the entire previous season and start this one with a 10-game suspension.

After Bridges made his first pullup jumper to help the Hornets take a 13-point lead in the first half, he was greeted with an ovation when he arrived for the game in the first quarter.

But the Bucks were able to take a 2-point lead into the locker room at halftime and began to pull away in the third quarter behind a driving one-handed dunk by Lillard and a corner 3 from Beasley off a feed from Antetokounmpo. A few minutes later Lillard hit a 3 and Pat Connaughton drilled a 3 from corner and the lead was at 14.

The Hornets cut the lead to six early in the fourth on a Bridges’ and-one, but the Bucks erupted from there and steadily built a 33-point lead behind a barrage of 3s.