Bucks pummel Hawks
Even without Giannis, Milwaukee recovers from a brutal defeat to the 76ers by getting an easy road victory in Atlanta, 112-86.
ATLANTA – Eric Bledsoe missed his seventh straight game. Hampered by a sore back, Giannis Antetokounmpo joined him on the sideline Friday night in Atlanta.
It meant the Milwaukee Bucks were down two starters and you know what, it didn’t matter it all.
That’s because Khris Middleton capably took over the reins of the offense, Brook Lopez dominated inside and out and Ersan Ilyasova quietly collected Antetokounmpo-esque scoring and rebounding totals to carry the Bucks to runaway 112-86 victory at State Farm Arena.
Milwaukee opened the game on an 8-0 run fueled by six points from Lopez – a game-opening and-one inside and a run-capping three-pointer – and never looked back. The Bucks (28-5) led by as many as 32 points on their way to their eighth wire-to-wire victory of the season, giving them more such victories than the league-worst Hawks (6-26) have in total this season.
Middleton, coming off a seasonhigh 31-point performance on Christmas in Philadelphia, became Milwaukee’s offensive focal point with Antetokounmpo and Bledsoe sidelined. After missing his first two shots, Middleton went on a tear making each of his next eight attempts. By the end of his night, which came after just 25 minutes of work, Middleton had racked up a team-high 23 points.
When he wasn’t scoring, Middleton
was finding Lopez and Ilyasova for buckets. All seven of Middleton’s assists – he also had eight rebounds – went to one of those two players with four going to Ilyasova and three going to Lopez.
Lopez, who has been inconsistent on offense this season relative to last year, turned in one of his best games of the season. Buoyed by his strong start, he continued going to work against the Hawks’ smaller centers while finishing 2 of 4 on three-pointers on the way to a 19-point night in 24 minutes. He also had five assists and three blocks.
The highlight of Lopez’s night came on a play that was indicative of the fun the Bucks had all night long. With 51⁄2 minutes left in the second quarter, Lopez caught a pass at the top of the key, faked a three-pointer and drove straight down the middle of the lane for a right-handed slam.
Before turning to get back on defense, Lopez caught the attention of Vince Carter – his former New Jersey Nets teammate – and performed Carter’s signature rev up celebration.
While Middleton and Lopez were making the highlight plays, Ilyasova, who started in place of Antetokounmpo, took care of the dirty work. He picked and popped for a couple of threes, mixed in some rolls for layups and had a few putbacks on offensive rebounds for good measure.
By the end of the night, Ilyasova had racked up 18 points on 7 of 8 shooting while pulling down 17 rebounds, the most boards he has had in a game since grabbing 18 while playing for the Hawks in 2017.
The contributions of those three Bucks players in particular meant Milwaukee could empty its bench and cruise for the final 16 minutes of the game.
That extra rest could prove important with the Bucks traveling back home for a game against the Orlando Magic (14-17) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.