Bucks at Hawks
The Milwaukee Bucks are not the same team without superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, who watched from the bench as his team fell to the Washington Wizards on Friday. The Bucks are hoping Antetokounmpo is recovered enough from quadriceps soreness to take the floor when they visit the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday.
Milwaukee missed Antetokounmpo on both ends of the floor Friday while giving up 40 points in the first quarter and could never quite recover from the slow start. "Not very good," Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer told reporters of the Bucks' offense. "I think we were a little bit in mud tonight – defensively in the first quarter and offensively for more of the game than that. To play the way we want to play, you've got to move. You've got to move people, move the ball. We just were a little stagnant." The Hawks were anything but stagnant while shooting 55.6 percent from the floor in a surprising road victory at the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday. The win snapped a five-game road losing streak for Atlanta, which is showing some positives signs in its rebuilding effort with the recent play of rookies Kevin Huerter and Trae Young.
TV: 3:30 p.m. ET, FS Southeast (Atlanta), FS Wisconsin (Milwaukee)
ABOUT THE BUCKS (29-12): Ersan Ilyasova scored 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting while starting in place of Antetokounmpo but could not match the MVP candidate's all-around contributions. "If any of the starters were out it would be an adjustment," Bucks guard Malcolm Brogdon told reporters. "When Giannis is out it's an even bigger adjustment. That was a winnable game for us even though Giannis was out." Khris Middleton delivered 25 points and eight rebounds in the loss in his fourth game scoring 22 or more points among the last eight contests.
ABOUT THE HAWKS (13-29): Kuerter is the less-heralded among Atlanta's first-round draft picks from last summer but is quickly establishing himself as a valuable piece in the team's rebuild. Huerter broke out for a season-high 29 points on 11-of-17 shooting while knocking down 5-of-8 from beyond the arc in Friday's triumph. Second-year power forward John Collins is turning some heads as well and recorded 25 points on 10-of-17 shooting and nine rebounds against the 76ers, narrowly missing his fourth consecutive double-double.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Bucks PG Eric Bledsoe is 4-of-30 from 3-point range over the last seven games.
2. Atlanta C Dewayne Dedmon collected 19 points, eight rebounds and seven assists on Friday.
3. Milwaukee took the last five in the series, including a 144-112 home drubbing on Jan. 4