Milwaukee’s Donte DiVincenzo drives to the basket against Brooklyn’s Kyrie Irving in the second half Tuesday at Milwaukee. Aaron Gash/Associated Press

MILWAUKEE — Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 36 points and the Milwaukee Bucks used a fourth-quarter rally to beat the Brooklyn Nets for the second time in three days, winning 124-118 on Tuesday night.

Milwaukee blew a 10-point lead in the second half and trailed 103-97 with 10 minutes left, but it responded with an 18-1 run to clinch a fifth straight playoff appearance.

Brooklyn cut the margin to four with 1:02 left, but Antetokounmpo sank a pair of free throws and Jrue Holiday made a steal in the final minute to seal the victory.

Kyrie Irving scored 38 points for the Nets, and Kevin Durant had 32.

HORNETS 102, PISTONS 99: LaMelo Ball scored 23 points, including two free throws with 5.8 seconds left, and Charlotte took another step toward the postseason by winning at Detroit.

Detroit trailed by two when rookie Killian Hayes was fouled with 9.4 seconds remaining, but he made just 1 of 2 free throws. Ball made his free throws at the other end, and Hayes missed a last-second 3-pointer.

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Hamidou Diallo scored a career-high 35 points for Detroit.

The Hornets are in eighth place in the Eastern Conference and are in solid shape to make it at least to the play-in round. They are two games behind seventh-place Boston.

SUNS 134, CAVALIERS 118: Devin Booker scored 31 points, Chris Paul had 23 and 16 assists and viditing Phoenix stayed in step with Utah atop the Western Conference by winning in overtime for its fifth straight win.

Mikal Bridges made two 3-pointers, dunked and had a block as Phoenix scored the first 15 points in OT to finally put away the Cavs.

Phoenix outscored Cleveland 20-4 in the extra five minutes.

KINGS 103, THUNDER 99: Buddy Hield had 18 points and 11 rebounds to help visiting Sacramento win its third straight.

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It was the seventh double-double of Hield’s five-year career. He made just 5 of 16 shots, but he fell one rebound short of his career high.

Terence Davis scored 18 points and Delon Wright had 13 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists for the Kings, who have won 6 of 9.

MAVERICKS 127, HEAT 113: Tim Hardaway Jr. made 10 3-pointers and scored 36 points, Luka Doncic added 23 points and Dallas won at Miami.

Duncan Robinson and Goran Dragic each scored 19 for Miami, which remained No. 6 in the Eastern Conference. The Heat played without Jimmy Butler, ruled out about two hours before the game with flu-like symptoms – not anything related to the coronavirus, the team said.

PELICANS 108, WARRIORS 103: Lonzo Ball hit seven 3-pointers and capped a 33-point performance with a step-back jumper with 25.3 seconds left, followed by four free throws in the final 15 seconds, and New Orleans won at home.

Stephen Curry, who had 37 points and hit eight 3s, missed a deep jumper that could have given Golden State the lead in the final 20 seconds. Mychal Mulder briefly appeared to have a long offensive rebound in his grasp when Zion Williamson stole it and drew a clear path foul from Draymond Green.

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Williamson, who had 23 points and 12 rebounds, hit his free throws. The Warriors then fouled Ball twice more after that, but Ball didn’t miss and New Orleans pulled within three games of a Western Conference play-in position with six contests remaining.

NOTES

CAVALIERS: Anderson Varejao is back with the Cavaliers, signing a 10-day contract to begin a stint to celebrate his 12-year run with the team.

The 38-year-old center hasn’t played in the NBA since 2017 with Golden State. The Brazilian agreed to come back and finish this season with the injury-plagued Cavaliers, who are crawling to the finish in another losing season.

Varejao was with the Cavs from 2004-16 before he was traded to Portland in a three-team deal a few months before Cleveland overcame a 3-1 deficit and beat Golden State in the NBA finals to end the city’s 52-year championship drought.

The next year, Varejao signed as a free agent with Golden State and played against the Cavaliers in the finals, a sight that pained some in Cleveland.

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