Hawks 101, Bucks 88
DeMarre Carroll had 23 points, eight rebounds and five assists as host Atlanta knocked off slumping Milwaukee.
Al Horford had 18 points and seven rebounds and Paul Millsap added 15 points and nine rebounds for the Hawks. Kyle Korver and Thabo Sefolosha added 11 points apiece as Atlanta improved to 32-5 at home.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 18 points and Zaza Pachulia added 17 points and 13 rebounds for the Bucks, who have lost eight of their last 10 games. Jerryd Bayless scored 14 points and Ersan Ilyasova and Khris Middleton added 12 apiece for Milwaukee, which is 1 1/2 games ahead of the seventh-place Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference playoff derby.
Milwaukee was within five midway through the third quarter when Korver scored 11 straight points in 65 seconds – including three 3-pointers and a 21-footer – as the Hawks took a 67-51 advantage with 4:43 left. The Bucks pulled within 72-64 entering the final stanza but Carroll scored the first five points of the quarter and later drained a 3-pointer to make it 92-77 with 2:31 left as the Hawks finished off the win.
Atlanta bridged the first and second quarters with 13 straight points to take a 31-20 lead and later stretched the gap to 14. The Hawks led 46-39 at the break and Ilyasova’s basket pulled Milwaukee within 56-51 with 6:43 remaining in the third quarter before Korver went on his rapid scoring spree.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Korver (202) has recorded the third campaign of more than 200 3-pointers in franchise history with former star Mookie Blaylock (231 in 1995-96, 221 in 1996-97) posting the other two. … Milwaukee was 4-of-17 from 3-point range. … Hawks PG Jeff Teague (ankle) returned from a two-game absence and scored just eight points on 2-of-8 shooting but recorded nine assists.