Streaking Bucks beat the Hawks 100-97, position for postseason

MILWAUKEE — Giannis Antetokounmpo isn’t waiting for the playoffs to play with postseason intensity.

The young All- Star threw down a windmill dunk, drew defensive attention to open up lanes for teammates and contorted his athletic, 6-foot11 frame along the sideline to save a late possession for the Milwaukee Bucks.

Antetokounmpo picked up his second straight double- double with 34 points and 13 rebounds, and rookie Malcolm Brogdon had 14 points and seven assists in a 10097 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night.

The Bucks, who have won 11 of 13 games, moved into a tie with Atlanta for fifth place in the Eastern Conference, though the Hawks still hold the tiebreaker. At- lanta has lost six straight.

“It was a playoff- type game. Everybody is fighting for pole position,” Bucks coach Jason Kidd said.

Atlanta had one last chance to tie before Ersan Ilyasova missed a contested 3 from the right wing with 0.2 seconds left with fans at the Bradley Center screaming “Fear the Deer!”

Bucks fans are hoping their team can return to the playoffs after missing the postseason last year.

“Understanding the intensity, I thought the guys handled it well. I thought the energy and effort was great from the guys,” Kidd said.

Dennis Schroder had 28 points for the Hawks, who were desperate to snap an extended losing skid. Dwight Howard had 20 points and 12 rebounds.

Atlanta went on a 13-2 run over the last 5 minutes of the second quarter to pull to 45-43 at half- time.

The teams traded leads 17 times and stayed within a bucket or two of each other most of the rest of the way in a second half that had the tense atmosphere of a playoff game.

But the Hawks couldn’t make buckets in the closing seconds.

“Bonehead plays to end the game, during the g a me, ” g u a r d Ti m Hardaway Jr. said. “But we’ll be fine. As long as we’re competing for the full 48, one or two plays here and there, we’ll pull some of these wins out.”

Dwight Howard, a 52 percent shooter at the foul line, went 1 of 2 with 10.2 seconds left and his team trailing by two. Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton hit two foul shots at the other end for the three-point lead that set up Atlanta’s failed final sequence.