Bucks 120, Nuggets 109: The Bucks use another hot start to power to their sixth straight win

Over the first month or so of the season, it was often the Milwaukee Bucks facing teams short-handed with a variety of players out injured or with illness. It contributed to a sub-.500 start and inconsistent play.

Of late, that has begun to even out for the defending champs, including in Friday night’s 120-109 victory over the Denver Nuggets at the Ball Arena.

For the fourth straight game, the Nuggets were without reigning most valuable player Nikola Jokić (right wrist sprain), the only player in the league having a more efficient offensive season than Giannis Antetokounmpo. Denver (9-10), which has lost six straight, also was without Michael Porter Jr. and reserves Bones Hyland and PJ Dozier.

The Bucks won their sixth straight to improve to 12-8. They also remain unbeaten (8-0) with Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday playing together.

Milwaukee concludes its short road trip Sunday at Indiana.

Box score:Bucks 120, Nuggets 109

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For the sixth straight game, the Bucks got out to a hot start that set the tone for the game. They shot 52.6% in the first quarter in taking a 27-16 lead, a quarter in which they went on 7-0 and 10-0 runs.

In their last five games of the win streak the Bucks have led by an average of 11.8 points after the first quarter, giving them a strong start to either hold on late in wins over Oklahoma City and Orlando or build into a blowout in wins over Orlando and Detroit.

"I guess the common thread is we're shooting the ball well," Holiday said. "I can't really give a reason why. I just feel like it's comfortable, you know? Actually it's kind of like that first game where we came out and it just felt comfortable playing with everybody kind of being back on the court, and then I feel like at this point where we have Khris back, and even when we get Brook (Lopez) back it'll be even more comfortable.

"But I think we went through some struggles and I think that kind of helped us find a place. And then being able to be at home, I feel like helps. So, just doing a good job of playing for each other, playing off of each other, and making the right plays."

On Friday night, the Bucks played off that 11-point first-quarter lead all night, leading by as many as 19 and as few as five – but they never relinquished it.

"I think we've been getting off to great starts, but the thing is we have to learn how to play with that lead and to extend that lead throughout the game," Middleton said. "We know teams are going to go on their runs, but we just gotta do a better job of trying to end their runs as quick as we can. I think we're were up 17, they cut it to (five), we were able to get it back up. We've got to find a way to take that 17-point lead and take it to 25, 30."

Antetokounmpo once again flirted with recording his 26th career triple-double with 24 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists. In the win streak he has averaged 28.2 points, 12.7 rebounds and 5.1 assists.

Holiday continued his hot shooting with a 7-for-10 performance for 16 points. Middleton scored 17 points and handed out seven assists but also turned it over six times. Grayson Allen had 10 points and Pat Connaughton had 20 off the bench.

Bobby Portis (11 points, eight rebounds) saw his double-double streak end at four games.

Without Jokić the Nuggets relied on guards Will Barton and Monte Morris, but the two were just 13 for 34 and 5 for 19 from behind the three-point line. Aaron Gordon had 18 points and Facundo Campazzo scored 16 points off the bench.

The Nuggets didn’t have enough firepower to make a final charge in the final quarter, as they trailed 90-73 at the start of the fourth but couldn’t get closer than a dozen and eventually fell behind by as many as 20.

In the late minutes of the game, former Marquette University star Markus Howard scored eight points.

Milwaukee scored 32 points in the third quarter and made 13 of 7 shots to stretch its lead to as many as 19 points. That was after Denver cut the lead to 68-63 and looked to be reeling the Bucks in again, but a 20-7 run near the close of the quarter ended that threat.

The Bucks led 58-47 at the break but by as many as 17 points in the first half, thanks to hot starts from Antetokounmpo and Connaughton. Both made four of their five shots in the opening half, with Antetokounmpo scoring 11 and Connaughton 10 off the bench. Middleton added 11 points. Campazzo came off the bench to give the Nuggets a second-quarter boost, scoring all 11 of his points.

Campazzo keyed a 15-4 second-quarter run that whittled a 44-28 Bucks lead to 48-43, but after a timeout Connaughton hit a three-pointer to get the Bucks back on track. Middleton closed the quarter with five points.

Middleton got the Bucks going to begin the game by making a three-pointer, and with that basket he became the 376th player in NBA history to reach the 10,000-point plateau. He accomplished it in his 597th game. The 30-year-old wing scored 165 points in 27 games during his rookie season in Detroit in 2012-13 before being traded to Milwaukee.

After his effort against the Nuggets, he is ranked ninth on the Bucks franchise scoring list with 9,851 points and will soon overtake Junior Bridgeman (9,892). 

"To envision (these milestones), yeah somewhat – to actually think you're going to get there the way you started, it's kind of hard to really believe that," Middleton said. "But that's why you put the work in every single day, to get to these spots, to get to these moments.

"I'll take it. To get 10,000, hopefully I can get to 20,000. That means 10 more years then, then hey, I'm with it."