Bucks 97, Hawks 92: It's a late show

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The Milwaukee Bucks started slow. They struggled to find consistent offense for most of the night, with none of their go-to scorers shooting particularly well.

Thus, with 3 1/2 minutes left on Tuesday night, they found themselves in a tie game — after entering the fourth quarter up by 13 — with the Atlanta Hawks, the team at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.

But for as sloppy as the game had been for both teams, the Bucks flipped the switch for a decisive run to earn a 97-92 victory at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

That run came after a timeout called by Bucks coach Joe Prunty with 3 1/2 minutes left following a three-point by Atlanta's Kent Bazemore that tied the game at 84. From that point on, the Bucks didn't miss another field-goal attempt and went 3 of 4 from the free-throw line in securing the win.

BOX SCORE:Bucks 97, Hawks 92

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“Yeah, that’s what I told them. I said don’t miss any shots," Prunty joked. "It’s guys making plays, that’s what it came down to — making the extra effort, trying to get to the right spot defensively to close out to guys, making their shots tough.”

Giannis Antetokounmpo, who to that point had been limited to 5 of 14 shooting and was hampered by foul trouble, got the scoring going by — as he's done many times — coming up with big plays when the Bucks were in the greatest need.

With the shot clock ticking down following the timeout, Antetokounmpo nailed a turnaround 11-footer. Then, after a missed three-pointer by Ersan Ilyasova, Khris Middleton lobbed an entry pass to Antetokounmpo, who collected it before popping up for a dunk.

“It was a close game and we needed to make plays and I just came in and I was trying to make plays," Antetokounmpo said. "Khris gave me a great pass under the basket and I was able to finish that one. I just come back in and in that situation, you just have to do whatever it takes to win. It doesn’t matter what’s going on, that’s when everything is judged on those last three minutes, so you’ve got to do whatever it takes to win.”

Following another missed three-pointer by Ilyasova, Middleton fired a one-handed, overhand a pass ahead to Eric Bledsoe on the break for a dunk, which he threw down emphatically over Ilyasova prompting a timeout.

Thon Maker, who had 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting while starting in place of John Henson (right hamstring soreness), added a dunk off a feed from Bledsoe — who got caught in the air and threw a pass backward after seeing a flash of Maker's white jersey — to cap an 8-0 run that put Milwaukee ahead for good.

Antetokounmpo, despite his struggles against Atlanta's packed-in defense, finished with 15 points and 15 rebounds. Middleton led all scorers with 21 points, including 13 in the second half after going 2 of 8 from the field in the first. Bledsoe finished with 14 points and nine assists, though he did have six turnovers and went just 5 of 14 from the field.

Center Tyler Zeller chipped in 14 points and 8 rebounds off the bench in his Bradley Center debut as a Buck. Of those eight rebounds, five came on the offensive glass, including two putbacks.

“Been with the team, I think it’s only been a week, but it feels like it’s been a while," Zeller said. "It was actually kind of nice being on the road for the first five or six days, I could not worry about an apartment or living and just focus on basketball.”

BEHIND THE BOX SCORE

Back in the air: Late in the third quarter, Bledsoe made a high-flying block on Hawks rookie John Collins, who was going up for what might have been a formidable dunk. But as impressive as Bledsoe's play was, it likely fell out of the memory of many Bucks fans just moments later.

That's because that block started a fast break that ended with Maker dishing to Jabari Parker, who rose up from his baseline cut and threw down a left-handed jam over Collins and Mike Muscala. It was Parker's first highlight-worthy dunk since returning from a torn left ACL on Feb. 2.

"That was a great sight for everybody," Middleton said. "And also for him to get that first dunk on two people like that with your off-hand. We need him to play aggressive and we need him make plays like that. We need him to be assertive and not passive. Hopefully, that can get him going some."

Outside of that dunk, Parker had a fairly quiet 18 minutes of action on Tuesday night. He had seven points of 2 of 8 shooting and added three rebounds.

Old friends: When Bucks coach Joe Prunty started his NBA coaching career as an assistant video coordinator for the San Antonio Spurs in 1996, Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer was also on San Antonio's staff. In fact, Budenholzer had been the video coordinator for the previous two seasons and as a recently promoted assistant coach who still handled video coordination, he worked closely with Prunty.

The two spent each season working closely together until 2005 when Prunty moved on to an assistant coaching job with the Dallas Mavericks. On Tuesday, the two men coached against each other for the first time with each sitting in the head coach's chair.

"He’s got great attention to detail, he’s one of the most organized people I’ve ever been around," Budenholzer said. "He was integral to me surviving in San Antonio; I would’ve been lost without him. ...

"When you’re the video guy in San Antonio — and at that time I made that next step to assistant coach — there were a lot of demands on he and I to make sure things were organized and presented. Those are his strengths and I don’t know if they’re mine. I just know he was incredible to work with and did an amazing job. There’s a lot of times where he was covering my (behind), covering all of ours. He was very much well-respected in San Antonio and has gone on and done a lot of great things since then."

UP NEXT

Teams: Milwaukee Bucks (32-24) vs. Denver Nuggets (30-26, entering Tuesday).

When: 7 p.m. Thursday.

Where: BMO Harris Bradley Center.

About the Nuggets: Like the Bucks, the Nuggets have been hot since late January. Entering Tuesday when they hosted the Spurs, the Nuggets had won seven of their past 10 games, including victories over the Oklahoma City Thunder and Golden State Warriors in consecutive games to start February. Nikola Jokic, a 6-foot-10 forward/center, has been steady for Denver, averaging 16.6 points and team-highs with 10.4 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game. The Nuggets have also gotten contributions on both ends from Gary Harris (17.3 points and 1.8 steals per game) while second-year guard Jamal Murray has started to establish himself as a scoring threat.