Milwaukee wins close in the Peach State
The Milwaukee Bucks eked out the nail-biting victory over the Atlanta Hawks, 127-121. Giannis led the Bucks with a 26-point, 10-assist, 12-rebound triple-double. For the Hawks, Trae Young was pretty damn good with 28 points and 13 assists.
Game Recap
The Bucks were making shots early, going 5/11, but three early turnovers gave the Hawks six fast-break points to keep them in it. Giannis got his teammates involved with four early assists, and Dame got going after Giannis sat down some jumpers off the dribble (12 points in the quarter). Bucks up 37-33 after one.
The second quarter began with a nice transition catch and dunk from Porter to Sims, but it all went downhill from there. Milwaukee’s missed layups and turnovers powered the Hawks to a quick 10-0 run in 1:07. Kuz halted the run with a step-through layup and his patented running hook shot. Noted shooter Terance Mann was giving the Bucks problems, scoring his third three from four attempts. The Bucks came back with some nice shot making from an array of scorers to tie the game at 66 going into the locker room.
Both teams had hot shooting out of the half. The Bucks got their noses in front, but the momentum was halted somewhat by Giannis missing what felt like his third layup of the game; however, he redeemed himself with an and-one a minute or so later, powering Milwaukee to an 8-0 run. The Hawks quickly responded behind Mouhamed Gueye’s third three-point make of the night, along with new Hawk Georges Niang’s second to bring the Bucks’ lead to one with just under three minutes left in the third. Dame’s knock on the eye in the first half started to show itself in the third; that thing was puffy. The Bucks ended the third with the ball sticking too much, missing nine of their final 10 shots. Hawks up 95-92 at the end of three.
KPJ saved Milwaukee’s bacon early in the final frame, scoring seven straight points to keep the Bucks close, and AJ Green manufactured a late-shot clock bucket to tie the game at 104 at the 8:37 mark. It felt like both teams traded one-point leads for the next three minutes. Milwaukee opened a six-point edge with under three minutes to go following a wild Kuz three at the end of the shot clock. The Hawks then came back and tied the game behind buckets from Daniels and LeVert after the Bucks went stagnant on offence. Luckily, the visitors decided to move the ball on the next two possessions and got two straight buckets at the rim with 26.2 seconds left. Young then missed the floater attempt, but the Hawks got the O board and Niang missed the open three, thankfully. Then the Bucks denied the inbound so well that the Hawks called a timeout they didn’t have, Dame got a technical free throw, and the game was over. Bucks win, 127-121.
Stat That Stood Out
Kevin Porter Jr. scoring 12 points in the fourth quarter to anchor the Bucks’ offence with the stars out felt again like found money. They don’t win this game without him.
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