Two of basketball’s greatest players and most successful teams in recent years went head-to-head Monday night at Ball Arena, and they didn’t disappoint in a 113-107 Denver Nuggets victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.

Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo and Denver’s Nikola Jokić (two regular season MVPs and one NBA Finals MVP each) headlined the matchup, but the game was a close, back-and-forth affair that could easily be called a championship preview.

Unfortunately for Milwaukee (32-15) – which was playing for the first time with Doc Rivers as head coach – Denver (33-15) made a handful of more plays in the final minutes to seal it, from clutch Jamal Murray jumpers to an Aaron Gordon block of a Damian Lillard layup late.

Strong team defense made Antetokounmpo and Jokić work for what they got offensively, and the final moments of the game were determined by the fact the Bucks began to foul defensively (six in a five-minute stretch) and then couldn’t make a shot after taking a 90-88 lead with 8:19 to go.

Milwaukee’s next field goal attempts were limited to two three-pointers from Brook Lopez and a triple from Antetokounmpo, but the Bucks produced a vintage defensive effort to stay in the game until the very end.

Denver’s defense was just as solid, limiting Lillard to 18 points on 5 of 13 shooting and Malik Beasley to five on 2 of 9 shooting.

Even though Jokić finished with a 25-point, 16-rebound, and 12-assist triple-double, the Bucks did a fantastic job on him. Jokić was limited to 10 of 25 shots and five free throw tries, with Lopez bearing the majority of the blame, followed by Antetokounmpo, Bobby Portis, and various double-teams.

Antetokounmpo couldn’t find many creases in the Nuggets defense, scoring 29 points on 11 of 19 shooting. He had 12 rebounds and four assists.

Benches struggle for both teams

Bobby Portis didn’t make his first basket until the 9-minute-39-second mark of the third quarter after he missed his first nine attempts. Cameron Payne hit a three-pointer in the fourth quarter as well.

Theirs were just the third and fourth field goals the Bucks’ four-man bench unit had made to that point and it got the Bucks back in the game from a nine-point deficit. The second group was just 5 of 20 overall and 5 of 13 from behind the three-point line for 22 points.

Denver’s four-man bench combined for 20 points on 8 of 15 shooting.

Portis had nine points and 12 rebounds while Reggie Jackson led the Nuggets bench with nine points and five assists.