Antetokounmpo scores 27 points, Bucks beat Hawks, 129-115

By Associated Press

 

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo had 27 points and 14 rebounds for the Milwaukee Bucks to beat the Atlanta Hawks 129-115 on Sunday night and snap a two-game losing streak.

Antetokounmpo had eight assists, finishing two shy of a triple-double.

Bobby Portis added 21 points, and Khris Middleton had 19 for Milwaukee.

De’Andre Hunter led Atlanta with a career-high 33 points with John Collins at 30 points, but the short-handed Hawks saw their three-game winning streak end.

The Hawks were without two key starters, leading scorer Trae Young (back spasms) and center Clint Capela (sore right hand). Rajon Rondo replaced Young in the starting lineup. Rookie center Onyeka Okongwu made his first career start.

Atlanta’s lineup changes, announced during pregame warmups, were jolting for both teams.

”We actually did our walkthrough for Atlanta yesterday,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said. ”We spent a lot of time on Trae Young. He’s one of the elite young players in the league, but you have to adjust.”

Hunter and Collins attempted to fill the scoring void left by Young’s absence. Collins sank six of nine 3-pointers. Hunter made 13 of 21 shots from the field.

”He was just trying to get us going,” Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce said about Hunter. ”You see the ball go in and you get the feel a little bit and we needed every bit of it.”

The Hawks missed Capela’s defense. The Bucks outscored the Hawks in the paint 60-30 and had a 51-38 advantage in rebounds.

Pierce called a timeout after Milwaukee took a 9-2 lead. The substitution of Solomon Hill for Okongwu didn’t help as the Bucks quickly extended the lead to 10 points at 16-6.

Milwaukee’s lead was 24 points at 58-36 in the second quarter.

The Hawks narrowed the deficit in the third period.

Okongwu’s block of a shot by Bobby Portis set up Hunter’s apparent 46-foot 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded to end the third period. Following a lengthy review, officials ruled the shot came after time expired, leaving the Bucks with a 94-83 lead entering the fourth quarter.

”I think in the third our intensity was pretty low,” said Jrue Holiday, who had 15 points. ”I feel like if we had come out in the third and just threw a haymaker at them, the game would have been different and we could have been up by 30.”