Jokic wins MVP battle vs. Antetokounmpo, as Nuggets drop Bucks at home

For just the fifth time this season, the Milwaukee Bucks lost a game with their “Big 3” in the lineup.

The Denver Nuggets had no trouble with Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday on Sunday, winning 136-100.

Milwaukee fell to 19-5 with those three starting. They dropped to 18-9 at home this season.

In a battle of MVPs, Nikola Jokic obviously won based on the score alone — Denver outscored the Bucks 71-43 in the second half. But, last year’s regular-season MVP was 7-for-19 from the field — his two misses 3-pointers. He scored 18 points and added 15 assists and nine rebounds.

Antetokounmpo, the NBA Finals MVP, was 9-for-19 from the field, 10 of 15 from the line in scoring 29 points — 22 in the first half — to go with nine rebounds and two assists.

Middleton scored just 9 points on 4-of-8 shooting. Holiday had 14 points, eight assists and five turnovers.

Denver shot a ridiculous 60.2% from the field and 53.5% (23-for-43) from beyond the arc. They had 39 assists on 53 field goals and just eight turnovers.

Milwaukee is back in action Tuesday, hosting the Washington Wizards.