Antetokounmpo denies Embiid, LeBron-less Lakers fall to Mavs

Milwaukee star Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 40 points and rejected a Joel Embiid shot with seconds remaining to propel the NBA champion Bucks to a key 118-116 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday.

Khris Middleton scored 22 points and Jrue Holiday added 18 for the Bucks, who moved a half-game behind the Miami Heat for first place in the Eastern Conference.

The Sixers dropped two places to fourth, but still just 1 1/2 games behind the Heat.

As the top of the table clash dominated Eastern Conference action, the Los Angeles Lakers slid out of Western Conference post-season position with an embarrassing 128-110 loss to the Mavericks in Dallas.

With LeBron James and Anthony Davis sidelined by injury, the Lakers trailed by a shocking 82-56 at halftime.

It was the second-most first-half points allowed by the Lakers in franchise history -- after the 83 conceded to the Celtics in 1959.

"Not good enough in any way," was Lakers coach Frank Vogel's assessment after watching Mavs star Luka Doncic ride roughshod over his players.

Doncic scored 34 points with 12 rebounds and 12 assists, posting his 10th triple-double of the season.

Doncic said the Mavs knew they needed a quick start against the Lakers, who with seven games remaining are fighting just to get into the play-in tournament for teams in seventh through 10th place.

"They're fighting for the playoffs so we had to get out with aggressiveness and energy," he said.

Meanwhile the Bucks and Sixers continued their battle for position in the East in a game that came down to the wire.

James Harden scored 32 points and grabbed nine rebounds for Philadelphia and Embiid shook off a slow start to score 29 points with 14 rebounds and seven assists.

Down by as many as 11 in the first quarter,