WASHINGTON, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Greek giant Giannis Antetokounmpo led five players in double digits, as the Milwaukee Bucks showed tough defense to crush another MVP contender James Harden's Houston Rockets 108-94 on Tuesday night.

Houston led 25-20 in the first quarter, including three-pointers in a row by Danuel House. From there, Bucks answered with a 11-2 spurt to outscore 58-53 in the second period.

The Bucks' gritty defense kept their rivals off balance in the second half where the Rockets only got 18 points in the third quarter.

Eric Bledsoe chipped in 16 points to turn a five-point lead to a 90-71 cushion that was never threatened.

Antetokounmpo collected 19 points and 14 rebounds while Harden scored 23 points to lead the Rockets but was only 1 for 9 on three-point attempts.