MILWAUKEE — Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 17 points in the final quarter, including the go-ahead dunk with 11 seconds to play, and finished with a career-high 44 points as the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Portland Trail Blazers 113-110 on Saturday night at the Bradley Center.Antetokounmpo surpassed his previous high of 41, set Feb. 10 of last season against the Los Angeles Lakers. He tied that mark with on an 18-foot pull-up jumper with 3:09 left in the game and passed it when he hit the back end of a pair of free throws with just under two minutes to play.Antetokounmpo hit 17 of 23 shots, grabbed eight rebounds and had three assists but, unlike the Bucks’ first two contests where Antetokounmpo carried much of Milwaukee’s offensive weight, he got plenty of help.Khris Middleton snapped out of his early-season funk to add 18 points while Tony Snell hit his first six attempts from the field and finished with 17 on 7-of-8 shooting.Portland held its first two opponents to below 45 percent shooting but allowed Milwaukee to connect at a 52.5 percent clip while making just 42.5 percent of its own shots.C.J. McCollum and Damian Lillard scored 26 points apiece to lead the Trail Blazers while Jusuf Nurkic finished with 17 and Maurice Harkless added 13.Antetokounmpo took over late in the third and sent Milwaukee into the final quarter with a four-point lead. He scored 15 points through the first 11 minutes of the fourth, but the Blazers wouldn’t go away and took a 110-109 lead on two free throws by Lillard with 57 seconds remaining.Antetokounmpo had a chance to put Milwaukee back in front with 30 seconds to go but missed a pair of free throws.He made up for it though, moments later, when Malcolm Brogdon forced a McCollum turnover and found Antetokounmpo in transition for an easy dunk, putting the Bucks ahead for good.NOTES: Milwaukee swept the season series a year ago and has won three straight against Portland at the Bradley Center but the two teams have split their last eight meetings overall. … The Trail Blazers’ last victory at Milwaukee came on Nov. 20, 2013. … Bucks F Giannis Antetokounmpo began the day leading the league in scoring, averaging 35.5 points through Milwaukee’s first two games. His 71 total points in those contests tied him with Michael Redd for the most in franchise history through two games. … Bucks C Greg Monroe was retroactively assessed with a flagrant-1 foul after NBA officials reviewed a play from Friday’s game that resulted in Cleveland’s Derrick Rose suffering an ankle injury.
