Clippers look lost late against Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bucks in defeat

It began as a duel, 44 minutes of back-and-forth between two of the NBA’s best teams.

It ended for the Clippers with eight scoreless possessions, four minutes of regret and a one-sided finish.

When it was over, a 105-100 Milwaukee victory sealed as the Bucks scored the game’s final nine points over the last four minutes — a stretch in which Giannis Antetokoumpo, had seven points while Clippers stars Paul George and Kawhi Leonard clanged their last eight shots — Clippers coach Tyronn Lue scoffed at any suggestion the loss told a larger story than one afternoon in Fiserv Forum.

“We just lost the game, that’s it,” Lue said. “We shot 44 threes, only made 14 and I thought we had a lot of good looks we didn’t make. Defensively I thought we were pretty good outside of transition, but we lost the game. OK.

“All these people acting like the world’s over.”

Neither are the Clippers’ title-contending ambitions, but their chance at claiming another credential-burnishing victory was done after Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton corralled the rebound from Leonard’s potential tying three-pointer from 27 feet with seven seconds remaining. Over his head, Antetokounmpo raised in celebration the two hands that had scored 36 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, collected five assists and blocked four shots.

Only four seconds earlier, the league’s two-time most valuable player scored his last basket by collecting a pass with his left foot 23 feet from the basket, taking two massive strides and flushing a vicious dunk.

“Giannis dominated the last four minutes,” Lue said. “I thought he got whatever he wanted.”

Few players present a physical challenge to the degree of the 6-foot-11 “Greek Freak,” which is why there are also few opportunities each season to capitalize on the kind the Clippers (24-12) had Sunday, when they’d overcome mistakes in defensive focus, and the potential fatigue of playing three games in 67 hours, to roar back from an 11-point, third-quarter deficit to lead by seven with 8 minutes 34 seconds left as Marcus Morris and Lou Williams began to sizzle offensively.