Giannis Antetokounmpo helps Bucks to 18th victory in a row

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 29 points and Khris Middleton had 24 on Saturday night in Milwaukee to lead the Bucks to their 18th consecutive victory, 125-108 over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Bucks have won 22 of their past 23 and improved to 24-3, a half-game ahead of the idle Los Angeles Lakers for the best record in the league. The Bucks have not lost since Nov. 8 at Utah.

The streak is the second longest in franchise history. The Bucks won 20 consecutive games in the 1970-71 season on the way to winning their lone NBA championship.

Kevin Porter Jr. had 15 points and Jordan Clarkson scored 13 for the Cavaliers (6-20), who grabbed a brief lead in the second quarter on a jumper by Clarkson but were then outscored 34-14 to close the period.

The Bucks’ lead grew to as many as 28 points in the third quarter, and they cruised the rest of the way.

Cleveland, which had ended an eight-game losing streak with an overtime win over San Antonio on Thursday night, committed 18 turnovers.

Kevin Love added 12 points and 10 rebounds for Cleveland.

Antetokounmpo, who missed his first game of the season Wednesday night against New Orleans, played just 24 minutes, while Middleton, who had 26 points on Friday night, played 23.

Heat 122, Mavericks 118: Luka Doncic left the game early with a sprained ankle, and host Dallas rallied from 24 points down without their young star before falling to Miami in overtime. Bam Adebayo put Miami in front for good on a put-back dunk with 1:15 remaining in overtime and finished with 18 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his second triple-double in three games. Without Doncic, Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 18 of his 28 points in the second half to help Dallas rally, but was shut out in overtime. Kristaps Porzingis, the other half of Dallas’ star...