NBA: Bucks bury Hawks, level East finals at 1-1

The host Milwaukee Bucks upped their intensity from the jump, leading wire-to-wire on Friday en route to knotting the Eastern Conference finals against the Atlanta Hawks at one win apiece.

Fresh off a convincing 125-91 victory, the Bucks look to maintain that spirited play when the best-of-seven series shifts to Atlanta for Game 3 on Sunday.

"We came in focused on each possession at a time in Game 2, and we were able to do it together as a team," said Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo, who collected 25 points and nine rebounds in three quarters before sitting out the fourth.

Jrue Holiday added 22 points on 9 of 14 shooting from the floor for the third-seeded Bucks.

Brook Lopez scored 16 points and Khris Middleton added 15 points and eight assists for Milwaukee, which effectively put the game on ice with a 20-0 run over a 4:18 span during the second quarter. 

The Bucks outscored Atlanta by a 43-17 margin in the second to claim a 77-45 lead at halftime.

Milwaukee shot 52.1 percent from the floor and took advantage of 20 turnovers by the fifth-seeded Hawks. The Bucks also made 15 of 41 attempts from 3-point range after sinking just 8 of 36 from beyond the arc Wednesday during a 116-113 loss in the series opener.

"We needed everybody to be more active," Milwaukee coach Mike Budenholzer said. "The guys, they were great."

Atlanta's Trae Young finished with a team-high 15 points on 6-of-16 shooting from the floor, but he also was responsible for nine turnovers.

"That's all on me. I have to be better at taking care of the ball and just doing a better job of at least giving us a shot and not turning it over way too much," Young said. "I have to do better and will be better next game."

Danilo Gallinari scored 12 points off the bench, and John Collins and Cam Reddish collected 11 points apiece as the Hawks fell to 0-3 in Game 2s this postseason.

Atlanta interim coach Nate McMillan tried to put a positive spin on his team's standing after the first two games of this series.

"Anytime you can go .500 on the road, that's a good thing -- especially in the playoffs," McMillan said. "We had the opportunity to get two, we got one, so we're happy with that.

"But there's another level we have to get to in order to win games and advance. That intensity they came out with wasn't a surprise to us. They just totally dominated the entire game."

Young made his lone 3-pointer on seven first-half attempts to trim Milwaukee's lead to 51-40 with 6:25 remaining in the second quarter before the Bucks turned the game into a laugher. 

Holiday scored nine points and Lopez added seven as Milwaukee erupted for 20 straight points to claim a 71-40 lead with 2:07 to play.

Milwaukee's Pat Connaughton added his third 3-pointer in as many attempts to cap the scoring in the third quarter. Jordan Nwora's layup early in the fourth pushed the Bucks' lead to a game-high 41 points at 105-64.

"Just build off tonight," Connaughton said, when asked how to keep the momentum going.

"There are still things that we can still do a little bit better. We learned from our mistakes from Game 1, we carried over our gameplan to Game 2, and now we need to do the same thing to Game 3."

Antetokounmpo highlighted his nine-point performance in the first quarter with a scintillating spin move around Solomon Hill before converting a finger-roll layup. Milwaukee made 7 of 12 shots from 3-point range to claim a 34-28 lead after the first quarter.

-reuters-

NBA: Perfect Bucks use balance to hand Raptors first loss

The host Milwaukee Bucks held the Toronto Raptors without a field goal for the first 4:11 of the second quarter Monday night, establishing an early lead before pulling away for a 124-109 victory in a battle of unbeaten teams missing their Most Valuable Player candidates.

The Bucks improved to 7-0 despite the absence of Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was recovering from a concussion, and took advantage of the Raptors' decision to rest their star, Kawhi Leonard.

Milwaukee filled Antetokounmpo's void with balanced scoring, placing seven players in double figures, led by Ersan Ilyasova's 19.

Serge Ibaka had a season-high 30 for the Raptors, who fell to 6-1.

After a tight first quarter, the Bucks ran off to a 10-point lead with a 9-1 run to open the second period. Ilyasova and John Henson had dunks in the burst.

The Raptors didn't have a field goal in the second period until Danny Green buried a 3-pointer with 7:49 left in the half, as Toronto closed the double-digit lead to 42-35. But the Raptors never caught up.

Milwaukee went on to lead by nine at halftime and 15 at the end of three quarters before coasting home, topping 100 points for the seventh consecutive game.

Ilyasova finished with his first double-double of the season, complementing his season-best point total with 10 rebounds.

He got plenty of support from double-figure scorers Malcolm Brogdon (17), Eric Bledsoe (17), Khris Middleton (14), Donte DiVincenzo (12), Thon Maker (11) and Tony Snell (11).

Ibaka's 30-point game was the second of his career. His first came as a member of the Orlando Magic in a 2016 game at Oklahoma City.

Pascal Siakam had 22 points and Jonas Valanciunas 10 for the Raptors, while Kyle Lowry totaled a season-best 15 assists to go with nine points.

Lowry's assist total was the fourth of his career with 15 or more, and three shy of his career best of 18, set twice.

The Bucks improved to 5-0 at home, while the Raptors fell to 1-1 in just their second road game of the season.

Milwaukee outshot Toronto 48.9 percent to 39.4, and outscored the visitors 57-27 on 3-pointers.

Middleton had four of the Bucks' 19 3-pointers.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

NBA: Bucks remain undefeated as they rout Wolves

Khris Middleton and Ersan Ilyasova scored 16 points apiece as the visiting Milwaukee Bucks improved to 5-0 by pounding the Minnesota Timberwolves 125-95 on Friday night in Minneapolis.

Giannis Antetokounmpo recorded 15 points, 12 rebounds and six assists for Milwaukee. Malcolm Brogdon scored 13 points, Brook Lopez added 11 and John Henson collected 12 rebounds for the Bucks, who led by 25 points at halftime en route to an easy victory.

Milwaukee is two wins shy of matching the franchise-best 7-0 start engineered by the 1971-72 team led by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

The Bucks were 19 of 46 from 3-point range, with 10 players making at least one. Milwaukee shot 53.3 percent overall.

Karl-Anthony Towns scored 16 points and Derrick Rose added 14 for the Timberwolves, who lost their second straight game. 

Jimmy Butler had just four points on 2-of-11 shooting for Minnesota, which was booed off the court at halftime after its poor play over the first 24 minutes.

The Timberwolves played without injured small forward Andrew Wiggins (quadriceps) for the second straight game.

Minnesota shot 32.1 percent from the field, including 10 of 43 from long range.

Milwaukee's lead topped out at 34 points when Middleton drained a 3-pointer to make it 88-54 with 4:47 left in the third quarter.

The lead was 30 points entering the final quarter, and the Bucks rested their key players due to the comfortable margin.

Tyus Jones added 12 points for Minnesota. Taj Gibson and Anthony Tolliver scored 11 apiece.

The Bucks began pulling away when Ilyasova connected on two 3-pointers and Middleton and Henson each made one during a 14-2 first-quarter surge that turned a one-point lead into a 27-14 margin.

Rose hit a 3-pointer to pull Minnesota within 35-27 with 8:27 left in the first half. Milwaukee responded by scoring 15 of the next 19 points to open up a 19-point lead on Middleton's basket with 4:11 remaining.

The Bucks later scored the final seven points of the half for a 63-38 lead at the break.

Minnesota's starting five of Towns, Butler, Gibson, Jeff Teague and Josh Okogie scored 14 points on 7-of-34 shooting in the first half.

source: news.abs-cbn.com