After a few days off from their regular season opening win against the Philadelphia 76ers, the Milwaukee Bucks weren’t able to replicate that same energy on the court as the Atlanta Hawks were able to cruise past them in a 127-110 win on Sunday at Fiserv Forum. Not even the Flava Flav national anthem performance could save the Bucks.
The Hawks were looking to get a win on their record after going 0-2 against the Charlotte Hornets and New York Knicks. In an impressive lineup of Saddiq Bey, Trae Young, Dejuonte Murray, De’Andre Hunter, and Clint Capela, Atlanta was not playing around.
The Bucks were without Khris Middleton due to being cautious with his right knee, so the starting five for Milwaukee consisted of Damian Lillard, Malik Beasley, Jae Crowder, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Brook Lopez.
Off Night for Bucks’ Damian Lillard
In his regular season debut with the Bucks, Damian Lillard broke a franchise record scoring 39 points on Thursday and was unable to score double digits on Sunday as Atlanta was able to keep him to only scoring six on the night. Lillard missed all seven of his shots in the first half, including four from the 3-point range, and committed six of the nine turnovers for Milwaukee.
Lillard scored his first two points in the second half with a little over three minutes to go in the third quarter, a 3-pointer. Overall, he shot 2-for-12, 2-of-8 from the arc. This was just the 16th time in his career that he’s scored fewer than 10 points in a game.
Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 26 points on 9-of-14 shooting and 11 rebounds.
Beasley had 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting, including 4-of-10 from behind the 3-point, Brook Lopez tacked on 13, and Bobby Portis had 12 on the night.
As mentioned, Middleton sat this one out as the team continues to monitor his workload after having offseason knee surgery. However, he is expected to play in Monday’s matchup against the Miami Heat.
From the jump, Milwaukee was not off to a good start, missing their first seven of eight shots. At the end of the first quarter, Atlanta had a 31-25 lead after holding the Bucks to just 38.5% shooting.
Atlanta Hawks able to hold back the Bucks
While typically all eyes are on Trae Young whenever the Hawks are in town, I think we need to talk about their other all-star guard DeJounte Murray who was a force on the court against Milwaukee.
Murray was able to go 5-for-8, scoring 13 points in a first half where the Bucks saw nine turnovers. Thanks to his defensive effort and leadership, the Hawks were able to secure their first win of the season on Sunday.
Murray finished his night with 15 points and five assists and superstar Trae Young had 20 points and 11 assists.
Up Next for Milwaukee:
The Bucks will welcome the Miami Heat on Monday, a team that kicked them out of the playoffs just last season. Milwaukee will be looking for redemption and a comeback from a rather disappointing loss against Atlanta.
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