FREAK IS BACK: Giannis Antetokounmpo engulfed the Mavericks with a ‘classy’ performance with 40 pts

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored a game-high 40 points on 18-for-26 shooting from the field to help rally the Milwaukee Bucks to a 132-125 win over the visiting Dallas Mavericks on Saturday.

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Milwaukee Bucks on X: "Mean-mugging MVP. šŸŽ°: @paysbig  https://t.co/XrieINfE89" / X

Damian Lillard added 27 for the Bucks, who won their fourth consecutive game and their second in as many nights. Pat Connaughton had 16 for Milwaukee, including a 3-pointer with 56 seconds remaining to give the Bucks a five-point lead.

Kyrie Irving led the Mavericks with 39 points, 33 in the second half. Luke Doncic had 35 points for Dallas, which has now lost two of its last three games, and Tim Hardaway Jr. added 17.

The Bucks outscored the Mavericks 43-27 in the final quarter and rallied after trailing by as many as 12 in the second half. The victory was on the second night of a back-to-back, with Milwaukee beating Charlotte 130-99 on Friday night.

Antetokounmpo scored 15 of his 40 points in the fourth quarter and led all players with 15 rebounds. He also added seven assists.

Giannis Antetokounmpo eclipses Kevin Garnett's notable NBA record that  stood tall for 16 years

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Antetokounmpo scores 40 as Bucks top Mavericks 12-125

After trailing by two points at halftime and by as many as 11 in the first half, Dallas began the third quarter on a 13-0 run to take a 71-60 lead. Doncic was responsible for 10 of the 13 Maverick points to open the half.

Irving then scored 18 of Dallas’ 40 third-quarter points to help guide the Mavericks to a 98-89 advantage after three quarters.

In the first half, a Lillard 3-pointer gave Milwaukee a 55-44 lead – its largest of the game to that point – with 5:39 remaining before the Mavericks closed the half on a 14-5 run.

Antetokounmpo led Milwaukee with 20 first-half points, while Doncic paced Dallas with 17.

Milwaukee was without Khris Middleton, who missed the game with a right knee injury. Starting in his place was rookie Andre Jackson Jr. who was scoreless in 12 minutes.

ā€œIt was a great character win,ā€ Bucks coach Adrian Griffin said. ā€œBack-to-back, short-handed ā€¦ but everyone stepped up and it was a total team win.ā€

Antetokounmpo scores 40 as Bucks top Mavericks 132-125 ā€“ NBC 5 Dallas-Fort  Worth

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Giannis Antetokounmpo pours in 40 to carry Bucks past Mavericks | Reuters

Antetokounmpo was averaging 41.3 points in his last three games before being held to 16 Friday night in Charlotte. Against the Mavericks, he connected on 18 of 26 shots including a pair of 3-pointers and grabbed 14 rebounds to go along with seven assists.

During that same five-game stretch, Lillard is averaging 27.4 points and with 12 assists Saturday night, has 30 over his last three games.

ā€œEvery game that goes by, Iā€™m going to be more comfortable (playing with Lillard),ā€ Antetokounmpo said. ā€œAs we move forward, weā€™re going to keep learning how to play with one another. Itā€™s getting better. Itā€™s a work in progress.ā€

Milwaukeeā€™s streak looked like it might have been in jeopardy heading into the second-half of a back-to-back without a significant chunk of Griffinā€™s usual rotation including Khris Middleton, MarJon Beauchamp and Jae Crowder.

But the Bucksā€™ limited bench stepped up in a big way, combining for 46 points on 18-of-32 shooting while accounting for 10 of Milwaukeeā€™s 17 3-pointers including four from Pat Connaughton who finished with a season-high 16 points and played the final 20 minutes.