Khris Middleton and Ersan Ilyasova scored 16 points apiece as the visiting Milwaukee Bucks improved to 5-0 by pounding the Minnesota Timberwolves 125-95 on Friday night in Minneapolis.
Giannis Antetokounmpo recorded 15 points, 12 rebounds and six assists for Milwaukee. Malcolm Brogdon scored 13 points, Brook Lopez added 11 and John Henson collected 12 rebounds for the Bucks, who led by 25 points at halftime en route to the easy victory.
Milwaukee is two wins shy of matching the franchise-best 7-0 start engineered by the 1971-72 team led by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
The Bucks were 19 of 46 from 3-point range, with 10 players making at least one. Milwaukee shot 53.3 percent overall.
Karl-Anthony Towns scored 16 points, and Derrick Rose added 14 for the Timberwolves, who lost their second straight game. Jimmy Butler had just four points on 2-of-11 shooting for Minnesota, which was booed off the court at halftime after its poor play over the first 24 minutes.
The Timberwolves played without small forward Andrew Wiggins (quadriceps) for the second straight game.
Minnesota shot 32.1 percent from the field, including 10 of 43 from long range.
Milwaukee's lead topped out at 34 points when Middleton drained a 3-pointer to make it 88-54 with 4:47 left in the third quarter.
The lead was 30 points entering the final quarter, and the Bucks rested their key players due to the comfortable margin.
Tyus Jones added 12 points for Minnesota. Taj Gibson and Anthony Tolliver scored 11 apiece.
The Bucks began pulling away when Ilyasova connected on two 3-pointers and Middleton and Henson each made one during a 14-2 first-quarter surge that turned a one-point lead into a 27-14 margin.
Rose hit a 3-pointer to pull Minnesota within 35-27 with 8:27 left in the first half. Milwaukee responded by scoring 15 of the next 19 points to open up a 19-point lead on Middleton's basket with 4:11 remaining.
The Bucks later scored the final seven points of the half for a 63-38 lead at the break.
Minnesota's starting five of Towns, Butler, Gibson, Jeff Teague and Josh Okogie scored 14 points on 7-of-34 shooting in the first half.
--Field Level Media
Milwaukee | Minnesota | |
Ersan Ilyasova 16 | Scoring | Karl-Anthony Towns 16 |
Eric Bledsoe 9 | Assists | Tyus Jones 4 |
Giannis Antetokounmpo 12 | Rebounds | Gorgui Dieng 7 |
Giannis Antetokounmpo 5 | Free Throws Made | Taj Gibson 3 |
Ersan Ilyasova 2 | Steals | Jimmy Butler 2 |
Giannis Antetokounmpo 2 | Blocks | Taj Gibson 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Milwaukee | 125 | 53.3 | 19-46 | 8-11 | 32 | 62 | 8 | 4 | 18 |
Minnesota | 95 | 32.1 | 10-43 | 13-18 | 19 | 49 | 6 | 10 | 8 |