In a battle of two of the top three teams in the Eastern Conference Tuesday night, the Milwaukee Bucks nipped the Philadelphia 76ers 118-116 in Philadelphia.  

 

The Bucks jumped to an eleven point lead early and had a 27-24 after one quarter.  The Sixers responded by outscoring the Bucks 37-24 in the second quarter to take a 61-51 lead into halftime.  

 

The Sixers lead by as much as 14 points in the second half, but the Bucks rallied to capture the lead midway through the fourth quarter and set up the dramatic finish.

 

The Bucks led by two points when Joel Embiid put back a missed shot with 1.6 seconds left that was initially called goaltending against Giannis Antekounmpo and would have tied the game at 108.  The call was overturned and the 76ers were unable to get a shot off after a jump ball at midcourt.  

 

The game saw 13 lead changes that may be a preview of an Eastern Conference finals.

 

Antekounmpo scored 40 points with 14 rebounds to lead the Bucks, while James Harden paced the Sixers (46-29) with 32 and Embiid added 29.

 

The Bucks (47-28) wll now travel to Brooklyn to play the Nets on Thursday night.