Giannis-less Bucks lose to Hawks after blowing a 21-point lead
New does not always mean better; that rang true tonight as the first outing of the Kyle Kuzma “era” saw the Milwaukee Bucks drop their fifth game in their last six, losing to the Atlanta Hawks, 115-110. Bobby Portis had himself another strong game while in the starting lineup, going for 26 points, 15 rebounds, and six assists. Dyson Daniels and Mouhamed Gueye each had a double-double for the Hawks, with Daniels putting up 15 points and 10 assists, while Gueye had himself a day with 15 points, 12 rebounds, and four blocks.
Game Recap
The initial run for the Milwaukee Bucks looked good even without Giannis out for the second straight game. Damian Lillard and Bobby continued their hot shooting from Wednesday night in Charlotte with the pair scoring the first 10 points for Milwaukee, helping them jump to a five-point lead with 6:31 to go in the quarter. From then on the Hawks turned up the gas from the three-point line with five straight threes to end the quarter to take a 12-point lead with 45 seconds left. Vit Krejci went 3/3 from the floor and 2/2 from deep during that incredible Atlanta run. Bobby Portis hit a push shot with 0.6 seconds on the clock to cut the Hawks’ lead down to 10, 36-26, heading into the second quarter.
Milwaukee saw what the Hawks did from three-point range and said hold my beer. The Bucks went 10/10 from beyond the arc as part of a 36-9 run to flip a 12-point deficit into a 13-point lead with 3:24 left in the second quarter. Six different Bucks hit threes, including the first three for Kyle Kuzma in a Bucks uniform having checked in during the frame. Gary Trent Jr. was the hottest of the bunch, going 5/5 from the floor and 4/4 from the three-point line. Unfortunately, the streak didn’t extend to 11 made threes in a row, with Kuzma missing one to stop the streak. The Bucks went on to outscore the Hawks by 28 points in the quarter, 47-19, and took a comfortable 73-55 lead going into the second half.
Then the third quarter blues hit.
The Atlanta Hawks were able to chip their way back into the game, cutting Milwaukee’s lead down to 11 points with 5:38 left in the frame. Atlanta outscored Milwaukee 20-15 during that opening stretch and were powered by eight points from former All-Star Trae Young. Milwaukee’s once strong 18-point advantage dwindled to just six points after a Mohammed Gueye dunk with 4:22 to play in the stanza. Naturally, the Hawks would tie things up and retain the lead for themselves with a 17-2 extended run from the seven-minute mark when the Bucks led by 15 points. Without a response, Milwaukee continued to let the game slip away as a layup from Gueye gave Atlanta their first lead since the second quarter. The Hawks took that two-point lead into the fourth quarter, 92-90, after outscoring the Bucks by 20 (37-17).
The lid seemed to be on the basket for both teams to begin the fourth quarter, with the Bucks not scoring until the 7:52 mark with some Bobby Portis free throws to cut the Hawks’ lead down to four. Back-to-back three-pointers from the Hawks ballooned their lead back to eight points with just over the six minutes left; a deficit that on this night felt hard to surmount. Still, Milwaukee found a faint pulse offensively down the stretch, cutting the lead down to just one with 3:34 left in the frame thanks to a 7-0 run, capped by Trent’s fifth three-pointer of the night. After getting that close, the Hawks went on a 6-0 run in response to take a seven-point lead with 1:49 to go. The Bucks were able to cut it down to four thanks to a Dame three and a layup from Lopez, but Trent got the ball stripped away by Young in a blown transition opportunity, leading to a 1-for-2 trip for Young at the line to put the game at five points with 15.5 left on the clock. The Bucks were not able to score on either look they had on the final possession to end the game, and dropped the final game of this trip to the Hawks, 115-110.
Stat That Stood Out
In just the sixth game of the season for Mouhamed Gueye, he had himself a career day, with 15 points, 12 rebounds, four blocks, and two steals.
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