Bucks at Hawks
The Milwaukee Bucks already have clinched the Central Division title and lead the Eastern Conference by four games, but the right ankle of Giannis Antetokounmpo remains the focal point entering Sunday’s visit to the Atlanta Hawks. The MVP candidate sprained his ankle on March 17 and re-aggravated the injury during Thursday’s 128-118 victory over the Clippers, leading to speculation Milwaukee may need to give its star a breather before the playoffs.
“I’ve got to work through it while playing,” Antetokounmpo told reporters after Thursday’s game, in which he scored 34 points but did not play the final 7:46 after tweaking the ankle on a dunk. “I’ll be ready to play until coach (Mike Budenholzer) tells me not to play.” The Bucks bring a four-game winning streak into Atlanta, facing a Hawks team that had its three-game winning streak snapped in a 118-98 home defeat Friday to Portland. Rookie point guard Trae Young scored 18 points in the first quarter, but was limited to eight the rest of the way as the Hawks finished 9-of-38 from 3-point range. “I didn’t shoot the ball well,” Young told the media after hitting just 1-of-8 attempts from long range. “I started off early, but my shots weren’t going in after that first quarter.”
TV: 12:30 p.m. ET, FS Wisconsin (Milwaukee), FS Southeast (Atlanta)
ABOUT THE BUCKS (57-19): Antetokounmpo entered Saturday fifth in the NBA in scoring at 27.4 points per game and tied for sixth in rebounding at 12.5. Forward Khris Middleton comes in off a season-high 39 points Thursday on 16-of-24 shooting, his third 30-plus point outing of the season, and guard Sterling Brown matched a career high with 15 points. Milwaukee has won 44 games by 10-plus points and 77 percent of Bucks’ victories this season have come by double digits, the second-highest percentage in NBA history.
ABOUT THE HAWKS (27-49): Atlanta ranks second in the league in points per game (119.3) and made 3-pointers (276) since the All-Star break. Young has reached 20-plus points in eight consecutive games, and moved past Dominique Wilkins and John Drew into second place in franchise history for most points scored by a rookie (1,444). Forward John Collins leads Atlanta in scoring at 19.3 points and 9.5 rebounds, and his 56.1 percent shooting from the field ranks 15th in the NBA.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Atlanta F Vince Carter scored nine points Friday and tied Karl Malone for fifth on the NBA’s all-time games played list (1,476).
2. Brown is averaging 9.8 points and 4.4 rebounds per game on 53.1 percent shooting from the field since returning from injury four games ago.
3. The Bucks have won the first two meetings this season while averaging 138.5 points per game.