NEW YORK (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become Milwaukee's career scoring leader on a 3-pointer that forced overtime, and then made two free throws in the final seconds to give the Bucks a 120-119 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday night.
The defending NBA champions clinched a return to the postseason with the win, in which Antetokounmpo had 44 points, 14 rebounds and six assists. Jrue Holiday added 19 points and Khris Middleton had 16 before being ejected for a flagrant foul midway through the third quarter.
Kevin Durant had 26 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds for the Nets, but missed a 3-pointer that would have won it. Kyrie Irving scored 25 points and Bruce Brown had 23.
Just as in the memorable end to their second-round series last summer, when the Bucks overcame 48 points from Durant — most ever in a Game 7 — overtime was needed to determine a winner. Milwaukee took that one 115-111 and pulled it out Thursday out behind a second straight 40-point game from Antetokounmpo.
He came into the game 39 points behind Abdul-Jabbar, the NBA's career scoring leader who had 14,211 points after beginning his career in Milwaukee. Antetokounmpo passed him with a 3-pointer with 18 seconds left that knotted it at 110.
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