Bradley Beal, Washington Wizards send Milwaukee Bucks to fifth loss in six games

BRADLEY Beal scored 30 points and the Washington Wizards defeated the visiting Milwaukee Bucks (101-94) on Sunday night.

Beal made 14-of-22 shots and added eight assists as Washington won its second straight game. Kyle Kuzma had 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Montrezl Harrell also scored 15 points.

The Wizards shot 50.6 percent from the field, including 11-of-27 (40.7 percent) from 3-point range.

Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 29 points and 18 rebounds. Grayson Allen added 19 points for the Bucks, who opened a five-game road trip with their fifth loss in their past six games. Bobby Portis had 13 points and 13 rebounds.

The Bucks shot 39.4 percent from the field and 10-of-36 (27.8 percent) from 3-point range.

Washington won despite being outrebounded 49-42 and committing 19 turnovers to just 13 for the Bucks.

Beal’s driving layup, his 29th and 30th points of the night, gave the Wizards an eight-point lead, 96-88 with 3:57 left in the fourth quarter.

After Allen missed, Beal and Harrell connected for an alley-oop to push the lead to 10.

Antetokounmpo answered with a dunk and then added two free throws to pull the Bucks within 98-92 with 2:26 to play. Beal turned the ball over and Jrue Holiday’s basket on a goaltending call appeared to make it 98-94, but the call was overturned after a video review.

Antetokounmpo’s dunk did make it 98-94. The teams exchanged misses and then turnovers before Spencer Dinwiddie’s three-pointer off a pass from Beal iced it with 20.3 seconds remaining.

Allen hit two free throws to give the Bucks a 63-60 lead with 7:45 left in the third quarter, but Beal’s layup sparked a 17-4 Wizards run capped by Corey Kispert’s pull-up jumper and Washington led 82-71 after three quarters.

Antetokounmpo scored four straight points to pull the Bucks within 90-83 with 6:20 remaining, and Pat Connaughton’s 3-pointer made it 92-86 with 4:51 left. — Reuters