DETROIT — Giannis Antetokounmpo was called for two quick fouls, and with 9:02 remaining in the first quarter, he went to the bench.
When he returned, there was still plenty of time for the Milwaukee star to make an impact.
“No matter how many fouls I have, I’ve got to be aggressive. If I get the third one, I get the third one,” Antetokounmpo said. “Whenever I stop being aggressive, I don’t make plays.”
Antetokounmpo made plenty of plays down the stretch, finishing with 32 points and 12 rebounds, and the Bucks held on for a 107-104 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Monday night when Blake Griffin missed a last-second 3-pointer.
Griffin actually missed two 3s in the final 14 seconds. The Detroit star already had a triple-double after three quarters, but it was a difficult fourth for him. Griffin finished with 19 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds, but he also had 10 turnovers.
“We’re not going to win games by 10 turnovers and by making the poor decisions like I did down the stretch,” Griffin said. “I feel bad for these guys because they played so hard and got us back in this game. I wasn’t there for them tonight.”
The Pistons rallied from a 15-point, third-quarter deficit and took an 89-86 lead in the fourth when Stanley Johnson connected from 3-point range. Milwaukee was up 100-99 when Eric Bledsoe of the Bucks missed three straight free throws — but Antetokounmpo briefly took over after that.
Antetokounmpo put Milwaukee up by three with a dunk, then added a three-point play and another dunk to make it 107-100.
The Pistons rallied and had the ball with a chance to tie. Griffin missed from beyond the arc, and after Jose Calderon came up with an offensive rebound, Griffin missed again.
“I was unbelievably awful tonight,” Griffin said. “I thought we had a chance to tie it tonight despite everything I did.”
ROCKETS 102, JAZZ 97
HOUSTON — James Harden scored 47 points to help the Houston Rockets hold off the Utah Jazz 102-97 on Monday night for their fourth straight win.
It was Houston’s first victory over the Jazz this season after dropping the first two meetings. The team’s current winning streak comes following a three-game skid.
Houston led by double digits early in the fourth quarter, but poor shooting left the Rockets tied with about two minutes left. A 3-pointer by Harden put Houston back on top and he added two free throws with about a minute remaining to make it 99-94.
Donovan Mitchell was fouled by Eric Gordon on a 3-pointer and made all three free throws to cut the lead to two with 35 seconds left.
Then, under heavy pressure from Ricky Rubio, Harden stepped back and hit a 3 to make it 102-97 with 13.3 seconds left, securing the victory.
Mitchell had 23 points for the Jazz, who have lost four of five.
Harden, who made 15 of 16 free throws, had six rebounds, five assists and five steals.
The Rockets had a 10-point lead after three periods and Harden put them up by 11 on a 3-pointer with about nine minutes left in the fourth. Mitchell had a nifty spinning layup before the Rockets missed five shots over their next two possessions and Danuel House turned it over the next time down.
Mitchell’s layup started a 9-0 run for the Jazz, capped by a 3 from Rubio, that got them to 90-88 with about 5 1/2 minutes left.
Harden scored Houston’s first points in more than 3 1/2 minutes after that, and things between him and Rudy Gobert got a little testy after that. Gobert fouled Harden as he dribbled down the court and Harden approached Gobert after the call. There was some minor pushing between the two before Harden walked away.
The Rockets led by 13 at halftime but Utah opened the third quarter with a 12-2 run to get to 52-49 with about 8 1/2 minutes left in the period. Mitchell made a 3-pointer in that span and Jae Crowder added two, including one he was fouled on that led to a four-point play.
Utah used a 7-0 spurt later in the quarter to take a 58-57 lead. But Harden took over after that, scoring all of Houston’s points in a 9-2 run that gave the Rockets a six-point lead with about 5 1/2 minutes left in the quarter. Harden converted three-point plays on consecutive possessions before hitting a 3 after a turnover by Crowder.
Houston was up by four about a minute later when Harden sailed over the 7-foot-1 Gobert for a one-handed dunk before a 3-pointer by P.J. Tucker made it 73-64. Utah coach Quin Snyder was handed a technical after that for yelling at the officials, and Harden made the free throw.
Houston led by eight late in the third quarter when Chris Paul scored the next five points, capped by a 3, to make it 83-70.
The Jazz got a free throw from Derrick Favors and a basket by Royce O’Neale after that to cut the lead to 10 entering the fourth.
SPURS 123, 76ERS 96
SAN ANTONIO — Rudy Gay had 21 points and LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan each added 20 as San Antonio defeated Philadelphia.
San Antonio bounced back after squandering a 21-point lead in a loss to Chicago on Saturday night. The Spurs held an opponent under 100 points for the fifth straight game.
J.J. Redick and Ben Simmons each scored 16 points to lead the 76ers. Joel Embiid was limited to 13 points on 6-for-17 shooting and finished with 11 rebounds.
Aldridge added 10 rebounds and DeRozan had seven assists for the Spurs, who completed a 5-1 homestand.
THUNDER 121, BULLS 96
OKLAHOMA CITY — Paul George scored 16 of his 24 points in the final five minutes of the first half and Oklahoma City rolled past Chicago.
George’s outburst came in the last 4:47 of the second quarter as the Thunder outscored the Bulls 23-7 and built a 64-44 lead at the break. He scored just one point in the second half.
Russell Westbrook had 13 points, 16 rebounds and 11 steals for his 111th career triple-double. Steven Adams added 19 points and Dennis Schroder scored 18 for the Thunder.
Lauri Markkanen and Bobby Portis had 16 points apiece to lead the Bulls. Markkanen added 15 rebounds.
TIMBERWOLVES 132, KINGS 105
MINNEAPOLIS — Karl-Anthony Towns had 14 points and 14 assists in just 21 minutes, Andrew Wiggins scored 17 and Minnesota got a big boost from its bench in beating road-weary Sacramento.
Derrick Rose added 13 points and a season-high 11 assists while starting for injured point guard Jeff Teague. Minnesota led by 36 in the first half against Sacramento, which was coming off a 120-113 victory at Dallas a night earlier.
The Timberwolves returned home following an 0-4 trip, including a 141-130 loss at Sacramento.
Buddy Hield scored 21 points for the Kings but didn’t play in the second half. Sacramento coach Dave Joerger didn’t play any of his starters after halftime.
SUNS 128, KNICKS 110
NEW YORK — Devin Booker tied his season high with 38 points, T.J. Warren scored 17 of his 26 during Phoenix’s 41-point third quarter and the Suns beat New York for their third straight victory.
Phoenix outscored New York 41-17 in the third and went on to win three consecutive games for the first time since March 2-5, 2017. The Suns won only four times in their first 28 games, but are 3 for 3 since.
Deandre Ayton finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds for the Suns in an impressive start to a five-game road trip, their longest of the season. Jamal Crawford had a career-high 14 assists as last-place Phoenix improved to 2-13 away from home, toughening up in the second half after giving up 12 offensive rebounds in the first.
Emmanuel Mudiay had 32 points, six rebounds and six assists for the Knicks, who lost for the seventh time in eight games. New York played without leading scorer Tim Hardaway Jr. because of a sore right heel.
WARRIORS 110, GRIZZLIES 93
OAKLAND, Calif. — Stephen Curry had 20 points and seven rebounds to lead Golden State past Memphis.
Curry became the fifth player in Warriors history to score 15,000 points during the regular season — joining Wilt Chamberlain, Rick Barry, Paul Arizin and Chris Mullin.
Kevin Durant had 23 points and passed Larry Bird (21,791) for 33rd place on the NBA’s career scoring list. Klay Thompson added 16 points.
Golden State led by 25 in the second quarter in quickly turning the game into a rout. That allowed coach Steve Kerr to rest many of his regulars as the Warriors began a busy stretch with eight games before the end of the year.
Marc Gasol had 15 points, six rebounds and six assists for the Grizzlies, who lost their third straight and fifth in six games. Omri Casspi scored a season-high 20 against his former team.
TRAIL BLAZERS 131, CLIPPERS 127
LOS ANGELES — Damian Lillard scored 22 of his 39 points in a dominant third quarter and the Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 131-127 on Monday night.
Lillard hit five of his six 3-pointers in the third when the Blazers outscored the Clippers 42-28. Portland was 10 of 20 from 3-point range in the game.
C.J. McCollum added 27 points and Jusuf Nurkic had 20.