The Hawks needed to continue their win streak on Wednesday night. Despite an early 16-point deficit, the Hawks picked up their fifth straight victory, blowing out the Bucks 131-113 at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.
They really found their stride in the second half after switching around their defensive assignments, putting guard Dyson Daniels on Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The switch allowed the Hawks to take some of the momentum out of Antetokounmpo’s drives to the basket. With Daniels at the point of attack, it gave the remaining four players time to rotate and build the wall. It limited Antetokounmpo, who was on a minutes restriction, to just eight points in the second half.
The win keeps the Hawks tied with the Hornets and 1½ games behind the Magic and Heat.
Quick stats: Six players scored in double figures. Nickeil Alexander-Walker led the scoring with 23 points. Onyeka Okongwu had 21 points and eight rebounds. Jalen Johnson had 20 points, five rebounds and nine assists. Dyson Daniels had 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Antetokounmpo had 24 points and five rebounds.
Turning point
The Hawks trailed the Bucks by 16 points with 10:33 to play in the second quarter. But the Hawks got a lift from their second unit to kick off their comeback while Antetokounmpo was on the bench.
After a 3 from Bobby Portis, the Hawks went on a seven-minute 18-6 run that cut their deficit to two.
It gave the Hawks enough momentum to take a five-point deficit into the half before they ran away with the game in the second half.
Highlight play
Alexander-Walker has been known for his shooting this season, especially for the long-court heaves. But on Thursday, he dropped a different play on the highlight reel.
Four minutes into the fourth quarter, Alexander-Walker took the ball to the rack and made Bucks center Jericho Sims pay.
Alexander-Walker took the ball from the top of the key before blowing by Portis. Sims tried to cut off Alexander-Walker right outside the restricted area, but the 6-5 guard went up and flew by him. He finished the dunk with his left hand.
What they said
“I think that cross-match kind of gave them everything they wanted. They’re getting to the basket, they’re getting threes, they’re getting offensive rebounds. I think Dyson just embraced the challenge and defender that he is, and being amazing as a player, he was able to get us some stops, and we kind of just picked up off him. We knew that we’re going to have his back, and I think we moved as a unit as well.” -- Alexander-Walker on the FanDuel Sports broadcast on the Hawks switching Daniels onto Antetokounmpo in the second half.
“I think the good thing is, is we played as a group, and we played together, and everybody was aggressive, and they made the right place. And it showed offensively. There was a lot of assists out there, open shots, great looks. I think the quality of our looks were really high.” -- Alexander-Walker on the FanDuel Sports broadcast on the Hawks’ shooting percentages.
“It’s hard to come up with the superlatives for him defensively. The fact that he can guard across different positions. And, you’re not going to you’re not going to stop Giannis, but you can, as we said, try to make it hard.” -- Hawks coach Quin Snyder on the FanDuel Sports broadcast regarding Dyson Daniels.
Up next
The Hawks have the next two days off before they host the 76ers for the final time in the regular season on Saturday.
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
