Antetokounmpo, Lopez to the fore as Bucks bounce back against Raptors

LOS ANGELES:  Giannis Antetokounmpo bagged a triple-double and Brook Lopez delivered a huge fourth quarter as the Milwaukee Bucks returned to winning ways with a 118-111 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Sunday.

The Eastern Conference leaders, jolted by a lopsided loss to Indiana on Thursday, returned to form with a dogged come-from-behind win over the Raptors at Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum.

Toronto led by eight near the end of the third quarter, but were overpowered down the stretch with Lopez scoring 17 of his 26 points in the final period to drag Milwaukee over the line.

Antetokounmpo, meanwhile, finished with 22 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists as Milwaukee improved to 51-20 at the top of the Eastern Conference, 2.5 games clear of the in-form Philadelphia 76ers.

Fred VanVleet led Toronto’s scorers with 23 points.

In other games on Sunday, Austin Reaves scored a career-high 35 points as the Los Angeles Lakers bounced back from Friday’s agonizing loss to Dallas to see off Orlando 111-105.

The Lakers, battling to remain in the hunt for a postseason berth in the Western Conference, were left shellshocked after a buzzer-beating loss to the Mavs on Friday.

It looked as if history might repeat itself on Sunday as the Magic closed to 101-101 with 2 minutes and 39 seconds remaining.

But Reaves took over by rattling in his team’s final 10 points to secure a win which lifted the Lakers into the play-in positions.

“It’s a good win,” Reaves said afterward. “Every win from now is crucial, and every game from now is crucial.

“It’s all about how we approach the game — if we’re locked in to what we need to do I feel like we’ve got the firepower to be one of the best teams in the league.”

In Portland, the Trail Blazers’