The Milwaukee Bucks are set to take on the Atlanta Hawks in the NBA Cup Semi-Finals this afternoon. Not only will the outcome of this game determine which team will advance to the in-season tournament finals, but the 13-11 Bucks currently are ahead of the 14-12 Hawks in the Eastern Conference standings by the slimmest of margins.
Fortunately for Milwaukee, two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo has enjoyed immense success against Atlanta during his career. Since 2016, the year the Greek Freak made his first NBA All-Star Team was named the league’s Most Improved player, the Bucks are 19-12 against the Hawks in the regular season.
And based on the performances detailed below, it is easy to see why.
5. November 20, 2019: Milwaukee Bucks 135, Atlanta Hawks 127
The Bucks improved to 11-3 on the season back in 2019 by defeating the Hawks 135-127. Giannis, at that point the defending NBA MVP, had 33 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, and a block.
Former Bucks point guard Eric Bledsoe had a good night himself with 28 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and a block.
Brook Lopez (12 points), Donte DiVincenzo (11 points) and Wes Matthews (10 points) were the other Milwaukee starters that night, all of whom had double-digit point performances. Lopez added two blocks and two steals.
4. November 27, 2019: Milwaukee Bucks 111, Atlanta Hawks 102
A week later, the Bucks improved to 15-3 on the season in November of 2019 with their 111-102 win over Atlanta. Giannis led the way for Milwaukee with 30 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, and four blocks. Khris Middleton came off the bench in this game, as he will in the NBA Cup Semi-Finals, to score 16 points while adding three rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
Bledsoe had a productive night, scoring nine points, grabbing five rebounds, while dishing out 10 assists. He was also impressive defensively, notching two steals and two blocks.
Interestingly, for Milwaukee draft pick Jabari Parker had an excellent game for Atlanta, dropping 33 points, 14 rebounds, five assists, two steals, and a block.
3. April 25, 2021: Milwaukee Bucks 104, Atlanta Hawks 111
In what would turn out to be a preview of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals that year, the Bucks fell to 37-23 on the season when the lost to the Hawks 111-104.
Giannis, however, had a great individual performance. The now two-time defending NBA MVP had 31 points, 14 rebounds, four assists, a steal, and two blocks.
Jrue Holiday had 19 points, five rebounds, and 11 assists while Middleton had 23 points.
With Trae Young not playing, Atlanta was led by Bogdan Bogdanovic who had 32 points, one rebound, three assists, and three steals.
2. March 24, 2017: Milwaukee Bucks 100, Atlanta Hawks 97
In the midst of the 2016-17 NBA season that launched him into superstardom, Giannis had one of his best games against Atlanta. Milwaukee’s 100-97 victory saw the Greek Freak put up 34 points (his career-high against the Hawks), 13 rebounds, five assists, two steals, and three blocks.
Middleton had just six points on 1-13 shooting, but former center Greg Monroe had a double-double (14 points and 10 rebounds) off the bench.
Starters Malcolm Brogdon (14 points) and Tony Snell (13 points) were the only other Bucks players to reach double-digits in points.
1. March 17, 2018: Milwaukee Bucks 122, Atlanta Hawks 117
Arguably Giannis’ finest regular season performance against Atlanta, though, came a year later in 2018. Milwaukee improved to 37-32 on the season (while the Hawks fell to 20-50) with the Greek Freak putting up 33 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists, four steals, and two blocks.
Middleton added 23 points, seven rebounds, and two assists while Bledsoe had 19 points, three rebounds, and nine assists.
Jabari Parker came off the bench for the Bucks in this game to score 15 points.
Current Bucks starter Taurean Prince (who also is the NBA’s leader in three-point percentage) actually led Atlanta in this game with 38 points, eight rebounds, and an assist.
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