Bucks win fifth straight 124-115 over Hornets as Giannis scores 34
The Milwaukee Bucks won their fifth straight game on Tuesday night with a 124-115 victory over the Charlotte Hornets at Fiserv Forum. It’s the second-longest hitting streak of the season for Milwaukee after starting the year 9-0. At 34-17, the Bucks are in second place behind Boston in the Eastern Conference.
Charlotte had won two straight and four of its last six, but fell to 15-37 overall in the loss.
Bucks get revenge on Hornets
The Bucks may have reached their season low the last time the Hornets visited Milwaukee on Jan. 6 in a 138-109 loss that left head coach Mike Budenholzer exasperated afterward, wondering why his team couldn’t muster enough competitive fire in the game.
Charlotte scored 51 points in the first quarter and hit 20 3-pointers for the game, season-best totals for an opponent.
Milwaukee went 8-3 after that game and its offense has blossomed over the last week, but you knew the Bucks were going to have something for the Hornets on Tuesday when, unbidden, Giannis Antetokounmpo looked ahead to the game after falling 50 in New. Orleans Sunday
“They’re coming back to Milwaukee, so we have to be ready,” he said.
Joe Ingles said if anyone else on the team had forgotten about the Hornets’ blowout, they got a reminder Monday in a film session.
BOX SCORE: Bucks 125, Hornets 114
“Yes, we remember,” he said. “A young team, they play free, they play fast and they want to throw the ball and we let them do all that in this first quarter. They had 50 in that first quarter and obviously we know when we play well and dictate the game and it’s on our terms, we’re a very good team.”
Wesley Matthews scored the hustle plays, offensive rebounds and made three for the Hornets on the night.
“You still remember,” he said. “We still have a work to do. (New Orleans) was a great win. Our offense is starting to come around, but we gave up 44 in the third quarter. So to be the team we want to be, to beat the teams we have to beat to get where we need to go, we can’t have 51 points in the first quarter, 44 points in the third quarter Hell, we can There are no quarters of 30 points, but every once in a blue moon.
Hornets head coach Steve Clifford didn’t think a championship-caliber team would specifically circle one game on his schedule, but he admitted Antetokounmpo is a proud player, and the Bucks star scored just nine points in 22 minutes
The Bucks improved on their last effort against Charlotte, as the Hornets scored 27 points in the first quarter, but scored 37 in the second quarter to finish with 64 points at the half. Milwaukee limited guard Terry Rozier (0-for-6) while running LaMelo Ball (5-for-13) for his 14 points, but Gordon Hayward and Jalen McDaniels combined for 23 points on 8-for-14 shooting, including 4-for-6 behind the three. – dotted line
Antetokounmpo scored 14 points in the first half on 7-of-11 shooting, followed by Jrue Holiday’s 11 points on 5-of-13 shooting.
But the Hornets held the Bucks at halftime (tied at 64) and had an 85-81 lead late in the third quarter before Khris Middleton took over for Milwaukee. He scored nine straight points and 11 overall in the frame to help the Bucks take a 97-90 lead into the quarter.
Antetokounmpo and Jevon Carter then brought the hammer down to open the quarter. Antetokounmpo scored seven and Carter added five, including a 31-foot 3-pointer in transition, to put Milwaukee up 109-94.
They needed all of that lead as the Hornets were shut down to five late in the game.
Antetokounmpo scored 15 of his game-high 34 in the final quarter, giving him four straight games of 30 or more points. Since returning from an 11-day layoff due to a sore left knee, the Bucks star has averaged 37.4 points per game in his past five games. He also pulled down 17 rebounds.
Ball finished with a triple-double to lead the Hornets with 27 points on 10-of-26 shooting to go with 11 assists and 10 rebounds.
Connaughton, Matthews advances for Bobby Portis
The loss of Bobby Portis to a sprained right medial collateral ligament (MCL) on Jan. 23 was a blow to the Bucks, as he was not only the primary reliever for Brook Lopez and Antetokounmpo, but he had also made a case for sixth man of the year. with 29 double-doubles.
And with Serge Ibaka away from the team while they work on the trade, the Bucks have gone small with Pat Connaughton and Matthews basically playing “forward.” Connaughton had 12 rebounds against Denver on Jan. 25 and has averaged 8.7 boards in the three games since Portis’ injury.
“Obviously nobody can replace Bobby, he’s irreplaceable,” Lopez said. “So we just have other guys stepping in, filling the void in ways that only they can. So you’ve got a bunch of big man Wes, the ‘PC’ used to playing the five, a lot of other guys do by commission. They’ve done a great job so far. It’s hard to play at a high level in the NBA at any position, and to see them play two through five basically like that, it’s pretty impressive.”
Matthews’ minutes are up and he’s pulled down 5.3 boards over the past three, including 9 against New Orleans on Jan. 29. He said he has received some communication from head coach Mike Budenholzer in terms of being ready to play a bigger role. But
“I don’t know if ‘big guard’ is the right term; I don’t know if he’s necessarily a guard anymore,” Khris Middleton said. “But he is playing well. He’s playing a new position for him, I don’t think he’s really seen that much and he’s excelled there, which helps us especially with Bobby down.”
Matthews continued his strong play Tuesday and had nine points and two offensive rebounds in 11 minutes off the bench in the first half to help keep the Bucks tied with the Hornets. Matthews closed the game with some defensive rebounds and two free throws to put the Bucks ahead 120-113 in the final minute.
Brook blocking the Hornets
In the Jan. 6 loss, Lopez didn’t have a block in 19 minutes of action, which may have been due in large part to the Hornets’ success from the three-point line. But in the Bucks’ win at Charlotte on Dec. 3, Lopez had six blocks.
“Frankly, we don’t have the versatility to play a five-man shooting distance (man), which is where his effectiveness would be most challenged,” Clifford said. “So, against us, he’s allowed, watch him tonight, that he’s going to stay under the basket no matter where the ball is.”
As predicted, Lopez made plenty of it, hitting three Hornets shots in the first quarter and another in the second. He finished the game with five blocks, which was the eighth time he has at least that many this season (he blocked a season-high six shots four times). It also gave him 586 blocks in his 282-game Bucks career, tying him with Ervin Johnson (461 games) for No. 6 in franchise history.
Five numbers
6 Points scored by the Hornets in the final 25 seconds of the second quarter. Mason Plumlee collected back-to-back offensive rebounds off his own misses with 25.1 seconds left and after Ball blocked Lopez, Jalen McDaniels raced down the court to hit a 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds left. Lopez received a technical foul later for complaining about a foul call, which led to a free kick by Ball. Instead of being up at halftime, the 6-0 run helped the Hornets to make it 64-64 at halftime.
11 Khris Middleton points in the final 3:16 of the third quarter, helping the Bucks turn an 85-81 deficit into a 97-90 lead after three quarters. Middleton finished with 18 points on 4-of-10 shooting and 8-of-8 from the free throw line. It was his highest-scoring game of the season since scoring a game-high 20 against Golden State on Dec. 13.
13 Bucks guard Jrue Holiday’s career rebounds. He tied his previous career high (12) early in the third quarter. Tuesday was the 12th day of the holidayth double-double of the season but his first with points and rebounds. The previous 11 were points and assists.
21-5 Bucks home record, best in Eastern Conference.
47 He places on the all-time assist list for Jrue Holiday, who passed Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with his second assist of the night.
Month:Giannis Antetokounmpo dazzles again as he scores 50 points in Bucks win over Pelicans
The play of the game is Brook Lopez’s left tackle
Bucks center Brook Lopez has been one of the league leaders in blocked shots all season, but he had an impressive one, even by his standards, on Hornets forward PJ Washington late in the first. half Washington was closing quickly at the rim ahead of Antetokounmpo with Lopez crashing down the middle of the lane. Washington tried to get past the Bucks’ bigs by going under the rim, but Lopez was able to reach out with his left hand and hit the shot.
The game video is Wesley Matthews’ buzzer beater
The Bucks started the game 2-for-13 from behind the three-point line, but Middleton knocked down a 3-pointer with 18 seconds left and then pushed the ball to Matthews as time expired in the first quarter. Matthews sized up his shot and knocked down a buzzer, much to the delight of his teammates sitting behind him. The Bucks used three straight to take a 34-29 lead after one.
Antetokounmpo named Eastern Conference player of the week
Antetokounmpo backed up Holiday Player of the Week with his during the week of Jan. 23-29, when he averaged 38.3 points and 12.8 rebounds in four games. He scored 41 against Indiana on Jan. 27 and followed that up with a 50-point game against New Orleans on Sunday.
Bucks injury report
- Giannis Antetokounmpo (right knee soreness), probable
- MarJon Beauchamp (right patella tendinitis), probable
- Bobby Portis (sprained right MCL), out
- Serge Ibaka (not with team), out
Who do the Bucks play next?
The Bucks are on late notice Thursday night to host the Los Angeles Clippers at 9:00 PM at Fiserv Forum. Los Angeles is led by stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, but it’s never clear when or how much they play. That said, the Clippers are a deep team that head coach Ty Lue has in a solid playoff position in the Western Conference.
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