Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 54 points against the Indiana Pacers but his haul was not enough to stop the Milwaukee Bucks falling to a 126-124 defeat.
The Pacers led by 18 points in the first half before Antetokounmpo brought the Bucks back into contention.
“I know he can do this, but when you see it up close, it’s awesome,” said Milwaukee coach Adrian Griffin.
“Giannis is a lot for us defensively, a lot for anybody defensively,” said the Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton.
Two-time Most Valuable Player Antetokounmpo also collected 12 rebounds and provided three assists and his points total was one short of his career high of 55.
Griffin was ejected in the third quarter for arguing a non-call on what he thought was a foul on Antetokounmpo.
“I thought Giannis was getting hit quite a bit and I voiced my opinion,” Griffin said. “Next time I will do it in a little bit more delicate way.”
Pacers guard Haliburton scored 29 points including a three-pointer to put his team ahead with just over a minute left on the clock, while team-mate Bennedict Mathurin scored 26 points.
Indiana had trailed by 10 points early in the fourth quester but 23-year-old Haliburton, who added 10 assists, said the late rally was a matter of “just figuring it out”.
Elsewhere, Dejounte Murray scored a three-pointer with 31 seconds left in the fourth quarter to hand the Atlanta Hawks a 120-119 victory over the Orlando Magic.
Atlanta’s Trae Young scored 33 of his 41 points in the first half in front of a sell-out crowd of nearly 20,000 at Mexico City Arena, one of two regular-season games to be played outside the United States.
Orlando had led by 11 points in the fourth quarter and Franz Wagner gave the Magic a two-point lead with less than a minute remaining. But Young was able to find Murray in space with the clock ticking down to seal Atlanta’s late win.
