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.
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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 19 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-for-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 a jumper 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 seven of 12 shots from 3-point
range to claim a 34-28 lead after the first quarter.
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