The Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Brooklyn Nets 117-114 at Fiserv Forum on Sunday. The two sides' aces, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kevin Durant, put up one of the best superstar contests this season.

Antetokounmpo went 21-36 on the field and 4-8 from downtown to drop game-high 49 points for the Bucks. Draining four triples at 50 percent is nothing but an exciting surprise for both the Greek Freak and the Bucks, but the Nets' defensive style is not the best choice to limit Antetokounmpo in the first place.

Coach Steve Nash had DeAndre Jordan cover Antetokounmpo, assuming Jordan should be strong enough to stand up to Antetokounmpo and Antetokounmpo could only score under the rim.

Unfortunately, neither of Nash's expectations came true. With no one trying to slow Antetokounmpo down on his way toward the rim, the Greek Freak was totally capable of beating Jordan for an easy basket. While making 10 of 21 jumpers is not lethal for others, it is scary enough for Antetokounmpo, who was 11-13 in the paint.

Defending Antetokounmpo is never a one-man job. Trapping and defending are both necessary. However, switching everything is the Nets' defensive style. As long as they don't change that, the team will have to stand the pain of watching Antetokounmpo dominate their paint.

Of course, it's not easy for the Bucks to defend the Nets either. Jrue Holiday can be trusted to take on Kyrie Irving, but he can't defend Durant. Neither can Khris Middleton. Antetokounmpo is the only team member capable of covering Durant. But according to coach Mike Budenholzer's defensive concept, Antetokounmpo is responsible for sweeping the floor on defense. Therefore, he cannot be given the task of defending the opponents' biggest offensive threat.

That partly explained why Durant put down team-high 42 points. In fact, if he had shot a bit better in the left elbow area or made that last attempt from the 3-point line, Sunday's game could have ended differently.

Stylistically, the Bucks and the Nets are unable to defend each other. The Nets lacked James Harden in Sunday's game and had further adjusting room with their rotation. The Bucks could expect better shooting from Holiday, Donte DiVincenzo and Brook Lopez. If the two teams meet in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Nets may have a better chance of winning the series.

Other games on Sunday (away teams come first):

Portland Trail Blazers 129-119 Boston Celtics

The Trail Blazers extended their winning streak to four after beating the Celtics on the road. Damian Lillard failed to remain productive, thanks to Marcus Smart's tough defense. But he delivered 13 assists, helping the Trail Blazers in another way. C.J. McCollum took over the scoring to get court-high 33 points and buried two 3-pointers in the last quarter.

On the Celtics' side, Jayson Tatum had 33 points and five assists, while Jaylen Brown got a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds. Nonetheless, neither contributed much in Q4, not to mention that they collided with each other at the end of the game before returning to the locker room. The Celtics are currently No. 7 in the Eastern Conference and cannot afford to lose either of the young duo.

Toronto Raptors 121-114 Los Angeles Lakers

It seems neither the Raptors nor Kyle Lowry needs extra motivation playing the Lakers. Lowry scored 37 points and 11 assists, while Pascal Siakam put down 39 points and 13 rebounds. The Raptors may be rebuilding, but their play style means they can still sting sloppy defending champions.

The Lakers lost their second straight game in which they had LeBron James. Having dropped 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists in 27 minutes, James was not playing his best game. But his performance was not as worrisome as that of Anthony Davis, who only had 12 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.

Davis has played six games for the purple and gold since he returned from injury, and he's been nothing but disappointment. Offensively, his true percentage is 45.2 and shot 4-23 from the arc. Defensively, Davis only challenged 9.3 shots of the opponents every 36 minutes. Last season that figure was 13. Frankly speaking, he's hurting the team every second he's on the floor.

Since Davis said he's fine physically, the team can only wait for him to find his game back. Unfortunately, the Lakers may not have that luxury. They are currently No. 6 in the Western Conference with the same record (36-28) with No. 5 Dallas Mavericks and No. 7 Trail Blazers. The Lakers have six games left, and their opponents are the Denver Nuggets, the Los Angeles Clippers, the Trail Blazers, the Phoenix Suns, the New York Knicks and the Houston Rockets.

That means it's more quite likely that the purple and gold will attend the play-in tournament when the regular season is over. Anything can happen in a game, especially if you are playing against Stephen Curry.

James fired at the play-in format on Sunday, saying whoever invented it should be "fired." Considering his team's current situation, it's probably not the best timing to make such remarks.

Miami Heat 121-111 Charlotte Hornets

Sacramento Kings 111-99 Dallas Mavericks

New York Knicks 122-97 Houston Rockets

Phoenix Suns 123-120 Oklahoma City Thunder

Philadelphia 76ers 113-111 San Antonio Spurs