OAKLAND, Calif., March 30, 2018 (News agencies) - Kevin Durant's return from a rib injury ended early. The All-Star forward was ejected with 2.4 seconds left in the first half of the Golden State Warriors' 116-107 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks Thursday night. "He said the magic word," coach Steve Kerr said. Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 32 points and the Bucks beat the Warriors for just the second time in their past 10 meetings. Sidelined by a fractured rib the previous six games, Durant argued after getting no foul call on a drive through three Bucks defenders. Official Tre Maddox whistled him for a technical foul, then gave him another and tossed him. Khris Middleton made two free throws to cap an 11-0 run that gave Milwaukee a 58-49 halftime lead. "I got fouled, I told him how I felt about it, he kicked me out. That simple," Durant said. Crew chief Bill Kennedy confirmed to a pool reporter that both technicals were the result of vulgarity by Durant. The Warriors dropped their third straight game and seventh in 10 outings, allowing the Houston Rockets to lock up the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. "We're struggling right now," said Kerr, whose team welcomed back Durant and Draymond Green, but played again without injured Stephen Curry (ankle sprain) and Klay Thompson (broken thumb). The Warriors remain firmly in the No. 2 slot in the West and Kerr refused to make too much out of Durant's ejection. "I think Kevin just had a moment. He was frustrated so he snapped. It happens," Kerr said. Durant leads the NBA with five ejections and now has 14 technical fouls, two short of the threshold for a one-game suspension. Durant, who had 10 points, six assists and three rebounds in 17 minutes, said of his conversations with the refs, "I could definitely talk to them a little better, I guess." Bucks interim coach Joe Prunty said the game was physical from the start. "So there was contact on plays," he said. "I don't know exactly for him what took place on that play." Green, who missed the three previous games (pelvic contusion and flu-like symptoms), had 11 points and six assists. The Warriors never threatened again after Durant was tossed. The Bucks, eighth in the Eastern Conference, led 92-72 after three quarters. Middleton scored 23 for Milwaukee. Antetokounmpo scored 30 for the sixth time this month, the 21st time on the season. "Oh yeah, I was excited about the game," Antetokounmpo said. "You're playing against the best team in the NBA. You got to show up because if you don't show up they're going to embarrass you." Quinn Cook, starting for Curry, set a career high with 30 points to lead the Warriors in scoring for the fifth time in the past seven games. Pacers stun Kings 106-103 Victor Oladipo got the Pacers off to a quick start, then picked up the pace again in the fourth quarter after Indiana's offense went into a brief funk. With that, Nate McMillan's team picked up another win on the road and stayed in the hunt for home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Oladipo made his first five shots before scoring 13 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, including a pair of free throws with 2.5 seconds remaining, and the Pacers held on to beat the Sacramento Kings 106-103 on Thursday night. "I just got in my spots and I was effective. That was it," Oladipo said. "I was worried about just being aggressive, getting to my spots and making the right play." Bojan Bogdanovic had 25 points, Thaddeus Young added 18 points and eight rebounds, and Darren Collison finished with eight points and nine assists against his former team to help the Pacers extend their winning streak to four. Indiana remained percentage points behind fourth-place Philadelphia in the East. "This is Victor's first time really being in this position where he's leading a team and the ball is in his hands late and his team is having success," McMillan said. "He's doing a good job of when he has single coverage taking shots and making shots, and when teams are double-teaming, getting the ball out and trusting (his teammates)." Cyclone fences were erected around Golden1 Center and extra members of law enforcement in riot gear were lined up outside the arena in anticipation of a possible third day of protests over the fatal police shooting of Stephon Adams, an unarmed 22-year-old African-American who was shot in his grandparents' backyard on March 18 as police searched for a person suspected of attempting to break into several homes. A funeral for Clark was held early Thursday afternoon and protestors held marches near the district attorney's office but did not make it to Golden1 Center. That was in contrast from previous marches when demonstrators surrounded the arena and prevented fans from getting inside. The Pacers led 99-91 with 3 minutes left following a 12-5 run. Oladipo had eight points during the surge, including a pair of three-point plays. After Buddy Hield scored seven consecutive points, Bogdanovic sank a pair two free throws for Indiana before Sacramento's Bogdan Bogdanovic - no relation to the Pacers player - hit a 3-pointer with 3.4 seconds left to pull the Kings within 104-103. Oladipo, who struggled from the perimeter, then made his shots from the line. "Sacramento was hitting big shot after big shot it seemed," Oladipo said. "We did a great job of just being poised and getting a win." Willie Cauley-Stein had 19 points and seven rebounds for the Kings. Bogdanovic scored 21 points and Hield had 20. "We made some mistakes but we shot the ball pretty well," Sacramento coach Dave Joerger said. "Had a chance there the last couple of minutes but they made some tough shots and pulled back in there."
