Antetokounmpo scores 33; Bucks breeze past Hawks

ATLANTA — Giannis Antetokounmpo was wary of a mid-afternoon tip-off, concerned about a sluggish start for the Milwaukee Bucks.

“Usually in games like this, early game, you come out a little bit lazy, and we’ve done that in the past,” he said. “I wanted to set a good tone.”

Took care of that practically by himself.

Antetokounmpo scored 33 points, Khris Middleton had 27 and the Bucks cruised to a 117106 victory over the outmanned Atlanta Hawks on Sunday.

Antetokounmpo also had 11 rebounds and five assists. He went 14 for 21 from the field, scoring from all over the floor while helping Milwaukee to its third win in its last four games.

He began the game with 175 points, 53 rebounds and 28 assists, the best start by a player in NBA history through his first five games.

“We came out, and Giannis was really aggressive,” Bucks guard Malcolm Brogdon said. “He got us off to a good start offensively and on the defensive end. We followed his lead.”

Dennis Schroder finished with 21 points and Taurean Prince had 17 for Atlanta, which has lost six straight. The Hawks have no inside experience or size this season after letting Paul Millsap and Al Horford leave as free agents and trading Dwight Howard to Charlotte.

Atlanta was outrebounded by 12, never led and trailed by as much as 23 in the second and third.

“They came out with energy. We didn’t match it in the first five minutes,” Schroder said. “In the second half we didn’t a better job defending Antetokounmpo, but we’ve got to play for 48 minutes and be better.”

Antetokounmpo, the NBA’s scoring leader with a 34.7 average, had 13 of Milwaukee’s first 20 points. Coach Jason Kidd rested him until midway through the second quarter, when his hard dunk made it 59-41.

The Bucks hit nine 3-pointers in the first half, including four by Rashad Vaughn on six attempts. They finished with season highs in points and 3s (13).

Milwaukee had such command of the game that Kidd didn’t call a timeout until the Hawks trimmed the lead to 11 at the 7:42 mark of the fourth. John Henson hit a hook shot on Milwaukee’s next possession to make it 98-85.

The Bucks dominated on both ends of the floor.

“Their defense is pretty insane,” Schroder said. “After the pick-and-roll, you try and pass it to the roller. It’s tough to get it to him.”

AP/JOHN AMIS Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo shoots as Atlanta Hawks forward Taurean Prince defends Sunday during their game in Atlanta. Milwaukee won 117-106.