Bucks blow 24-point lead but Jrue Holiday comes up big in 114-105 victory over Hawks

ATLANTA – The Milwaukee Bucks won for the fourth time in their last five games – their most successful stretch of play since beginning the year 9-0 – with a 114-105 victory over the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena on Wednesday. Milwaukee is now 27-14 overall while Atlanta lost for the sixth time over its last eight to fall to 19-22.

It wasn't without stress, however, as the Hawks came back from a 24-point deficit and eventually took a two-point lead late in the game. The Bucks used a 10-2 run in the final minutes to secure the victory.

So what did that say about the Bucks?

"That we're resilient," Jrue Holiday said. "We don't like to lose. I think close games like that, not that we enjoy those moments, but we do think that they are teaching moments where we can be able to kind of close out games and use all that, everything we did tonight, in the future."

Here are some takeaways from the game:

Holiday finding his form

It should be no shock that the Bucks are now 3-1 since their star point guard returned from an illness that knocked him out of three straight games from Dec. 28-Jan. 1, but in reality the way Holiday felt for November and December matched how the Bucks played – uneasy.

“This is one of the first times that it’s happened, and I think it’s so that I don’t continue to get sick,” he told the Journal Sentinel of the final stages of his recovery. “It’s not necessarily that my body feels low energy and whatever, because, I mean that happens even when I’m not sick. I think for the most part not getting other people sick and just letting my body heal so my immune system is strong.”

BOX SCORE: Bucks 114, Hawks 105

He played 19 games and missed 10 from when he first said he began to feel sick around Halloween, a period unlike any other in his previous 13 seasons in the league. The bucks were 11-8 when he played, 5-5 when he did not.

“I think it happens,” Holiday said of the team’s up-and-down play during that time. “I think throughout every season, every team has a lull or they go through something that they have to fight out of. So, this is just a speed bump for us.

"I feel like we’ve been together so long that we know these things happen. I think (Giannis Antetokounmpo is) completely right (to say not to panic). It’s nothing to get crazy about or get really down on yourself about only because we know that we are still a really good team. We haven’t been playing the best basketball and when that’s happening people start to get frustrated and missing some shots and doing whatever, but once we start clicking and doing it we’ll be right there.”

Holiday followed up his game-closing offensive heroics in New York on Monday by taking control of the Hawks from the beginning. First, Holiday helped prevent Atlanta’s all-star guard Dejounte Murray from even getting a shot off until late in the first quarter (and scoring just nine on 4 of 12 shooting at the break). Then, on offense, Holiday scored 11 points and had three assists in helping the Bucks totally offset the slow start by Antetokounmpo.

Holiday had to continue to lead the team offensively, as the rest of the team went cold and Antetokounmpo was prevented from getting to his spots. Holiday drew the Hawks’ first fourth quarter foul with 2:23 to go in the game, and then hit a 17-footer to put the Bucks up 108-103 after the Hawks had taken a 103-101 lead.

"You know, I think it's more of a read," Holiday said of his offensive mindset. "I think most of the time I try to be aggressive and get into the paint, too, and try to kick out. Whether Giannis does it or not, I feel like he just attracts so much attention and for him to be able to do that I feel like it kind of motivates me to go in there and do the same thing."

He then had the backbreaker for the Hawks, a smooth 11-footer with 43 seconds left to make it 113-105.

Holiday finished with 27 points on 10-of-21 shooting, which was his first 20-point effort since Christmas Day. He also had five assists and four rebounds.

"It seems like a little bit like the other night (in New York) when Jrue saved his best for last and made some big plays down the stretch," Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said after the game. "The kind of iso one-on-one against De'Andre Hunter, and obviously the one over the backboard's ridiculous but getting to the basket and finishing, getting to the free throw line and making his free throws, it just felt like he had a great, a big, big fourth quarter."

Antetokounmpo doesn't score much but has big plays late

The Hawks were missing a big part of their defense in center Clint Capela, and one would think it would have opened things up for Antetokounmpo. The Atlanta frontcourt of Capela (6-10), John Collins (6-9) and Onyeka Okongwu (6-8) have often played well together in taking away angles for Antetokounmpo to attack, and showing active hands in the post and on rebounds.

In three games against the Hawks earlier in the season, Antetokounmpo averaged 29.2 points but on 45.7% shooting. In fairness to the Bucks’ star, however, he missed a game on Nov. 5 with knee soreness and was clearly not himself physically in the Bucks loss at State Farm Arena on Nov. 7. He missed the next two games with knee soreness. He then returned Nov. 14 at home against the Hawks and admitted he was a bit rusty.

Antetokounmpo entered Wednesday’s game healthy but was coming off his two lowest-scoring games of the season against Charlotte (nine) and New York (22) and his three worst shooting games (37.5%) since he worked his way back into form in mid-November.

But instead of having a bust-out scoring performance, the Hawks still closed down the slivers of space Antetokounmpo looked for, shifting their entire defense to form a different kind of "walling off" effect in the paint. But while he scored just five points on two of his six shooting in the first half, the Bucks led 67-46 behind 12 made three-pointers.

"I think he got us going in the beginning of the game where we had three after three, he was driving, getting into the paint, drawing five, kicking out and we were knocking them in, finally," Holiday said. "So, I think when he does that, mixed with him getting to the basket, getting to the free throw line, he's virtually unstoppable."

Atlanta nearly proved unstoppable in the second half, however, as the Hawks began marching back into the game. Antetokounmpo would only take two shots in the third quarter and had just one through the first half of the fourth quarter as the Hawks were closing in, even with reserve big men Frank Kaminsky and Jalen Johnson on the floor.

"I thought it was one of Giannis' best games without scoring," Budenholzer said. "I thought he trusted his teammates. He made a ton of great plays."

Said Antetokounmpo: "Guys were open for threes and just trying to make the right play. Obviously would love to be more aggressive and get downhill, but guys were there. Guys were open. When I was coming down I was able to find a lot of corner threes for them and I was just making the right pass.

"Obviously as I said I want to be aggressive, I want to get downhill and it kind of bothers you at times if I feel not aggressive and you fight with yourself but at the end of the day you just look at the game and I'm making the right plays here. It's not that I'm hesitating or something. I'm making the right plays and the team made a lot of shots, made some big shots when we needed it the most. Gotta do other things to affect the game as much as I can."

Antetokounmpo rebounded (18) and facilitated (10 assists) throughout, but once the shooting touch from his teammates cooled he said the Hawks stayed committed to their defense so he had to stay committed to playing with the pass. Four of his 10 assists came in the final quarter.

So while Antetokounmpo was not able to impose his will on the rim late with baskets of his own, he hit Brook Lopez for the go-ahead three-pointer with 2:50 to go and then pulled down a key offensive rebound with 1:22 left in the game and somehow got it out to Jevon Carter for a three-pointer and a 111-103 Bucks lead.

"There's a lot of big plays but for him to go to the boards, do everything else he does, and then find the willpower, the competitiveness to go get a tough offensive rebound, not force it back through a bunch of traffic and kick it to a guy and Jevon just let it fly," Budenholzer said. "I think when those guys are doing that around Giannis, hopefully we have everything. Our role players can make threes, make shots and make plays and we find ways to score efficiently."

Antetokounmpo acknowledged it was hard to watch the lead slip away, and eventually disappear, "but I tried to do that but whenever I tried they were shifting in. They had levels in the paint so I was just trying to find Pat, Jevon, Joe, Brook a couple times. But yeah, it's hard, but at the end of the day when you win and I'm blessed enough to be able to affect the game in different ways, not just scoring the ball. I was never a scorer. But I'm happy that I can help my teammate even by passing the ball, rebounding the ball and play some defense."

Antetokounmpo finished with more fouls (five) than field goals (three) in scoring 7 points, his lowest point total of the season. He was 3 for 10 from the floor and 1 for 4 from the free throw line. He was 2 for 7 for nine points in the Bucks’ 29-point loss to Charlotte on Jan. 6, which were his previous season lows for field goals, attempts and points.

Along with Holiday's 27 points, Lopez added 20 while Bobby Portis and Jevon Carter had 13 each off the bench. Pat Connaughton added 10 and Grayson Allen had six in the first half before exiting with an injury. Joe Ingles had seven points and five assists, also.

"I think we've been great at being confident, sharing the ball and improving on that end," Lopez said. "And obviously Jrue was incredible tonight. 'JC' hit some big shots and Joe's been great for us just making the right play. He plays at his own pace and whenever reads whatever a defense is giving him he's going to make the right play and it's good for usually."

Milwaukee's last game:Bucks rally from 17 points down to beat the Knicks, 111-107

More:From no-trade clauses to luxury tax restrictions, how can the Milwaukee Bucks make a trade?

A Twitter List by journalsentinel

Grayson Allen injured in first half

Starting guard Grayson Allen was ruled out for the game at halftime with a sprained right ankle, cutting short a solid performance by the Bucks' guard. Allen scored six points on 3 of 4 shooting and had two assists and two rebounds in 13 minutes. Rookie MarJon Beauchamp joined starters Brook Lopez, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Pat Connaughton and Jrue Holiday in the lineup to open the third quarter.

Allen told the Journal Sentinel after the game he was injured on the first defensive play after his impressive lob dunk off a pass from Holiday, when he stepped on Antetokounmpo's foot. He said the injury did not require any imaging.

Khris Middleton practices for Bucks

The Bucks’ three-time all-star got in a five-on-five practice with the team on Tuesday in Atlanta and then worked up a sweat during the shootaround at State Farm Arena Wednesday.

“Kind of a good opportunity and I think a significant workday,” Budenholzer said of the practice. “I think he’s doing well, responding well, so we’re positive.”

Although Middleton had been ruled out for Wednesday’s game against Atlanta earlier in week – which is the 13^th straight game he’s missed with right knee soreness v he said the practice was an important moment.

“It’s the next ramp-up step in returning to playing,” he said. “It went well. Really, no swelling that came back yesterday, feel pretty good today. I know people get frustrated, but it’s like a day-by-day thing where I have to put myself through these various steps and have to sustain it for a lot of time in order to be back playing without pain or swelling.”

He acknowledged to the Journal Sentinel on Dec. 25 that a “couple little minor” things happened to his knee over the course of his seven-game return action in December, which resulted in some swelling.

He’s played seven games this season after the missing the first 20 following offseason wrist surgery.

Budenholzer added that the team would like fit in some practice time with the organization’s G League affiliate, the Wisconsin Herd, for Middleton. Middleton said he “definitely” feels he’s on the right track and close to a return to the court.

For him, he said they’re trying to prevent a similar situation down the line – so that when he does play, he’s back playing for good.

“It’s kind of hard to see the future with those type of things,” he said. “So like I said, it’s literally a day-by-day process where you just try to see how you feel, how your knee responds to certain ramp-up activities.”

Five numbers

6 Different Bucks to hit a three-pointer in the first quarter, allowing them to take a 39-19 lead after one. Milwaukee was 9 for 14 (64.3%) from behind the three-point line in the opening period. The nine makes were a season-high for a single quarter.

24 Point lead blown by the Bucks in the second half when the Hawks took a brief 103-101 lead with 3:11 to go in the game.

44.8% Atlanta’s shooting percentage Wednesday night. The Bucks came into the game as the second-best defensive team in the league in opponent field goal shooting (45.1%) while the Hawks were making 46.9% of their shots (No. 18) on the year.

79 Place on the all-time NBA games started list for Lopez, who passed Milwaukee native and former all-star Latrell Sprewell for that spot with his 868^th career start. Lopez has played for New Jersey/Brooklyn, the Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee. Wednesday’s game was the center’s 269^th start with the Bucks.

Play of the game is Grayson Allen's lob dunk

In the second quarter Jrue Holiday picked up a steal and pushed the ball up the court, and as he got to the three-point line he had a teammate flying to the rim -- only it wasn't Giannis Antetokounmpo but rather Grayson Allen. Holiday threw it up and Allen threw it down.

Video of the game is Jrue Holiday's behind-the-backboard shot

Jrue Holiday has made it a habit of making crazy shots falling out of bounds, often requiring him to angle the arc of the shot over the top edge of the backboard. But, Holiday took it to a new level on Wednesday when he took a pass from Bobby Portis deep under his own basket, and the only shot was to go up and over the entire thing from behind.

"Sometimes it just happens, just like the ones that are semi-behind the backboard," he said. "I feel like growing up I've just always done it. I've had a dad (Shawn) who always talked about trick shots and being able to shoot behind the basket and what kind of touch that that has and what it takes. I guess there aren't too many people willingly just throwing it over the basket. I try not to do as much."

Trae Young out for Hawks

Atlanta's all-NBA point guard was ruled out for the game with an illness, which means the Bucks won't have to contend with one of the more dynamic offensive players in the league. Young is averaging 27.5 points and 9.8 assists per game. In two previous games against the Bucks, Young scored 42 in a loss on Oct. 29 and 21 in a win on Nov. 14.

Young missed the Hawks' 117-98 victory over the Bucks on Nov. 7. Dejounte Murray scored 25 and had 11 assists in that game and AJ Griffin came off the bench to score 24.

Bucks injury report

• Khris Middleton (right knee soreness), out

• Serge Ibaka (personal), out

Who do the Bucks play next?

Milwaukee heads to Miami to play the Heat in their arena (the team shed its naming rights agreement with a bankrupt cryptocurrency company Wednesday) on Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. The Heat is 22-20 and has faced myriad of injuries throughout the year, but it remains one of the best defenses in the league and is still led by Marquette alumnus Jimmy Butler, Whitnall High School alumnus Tyler Herro and big man Bam Adebayo.

Subscribe to our Milwaukee Bucks newsletter for updates on the team.

Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.

DOWNLOAD THE APP: Get the latest news, sports and more

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bucks blow 24-point lead but Jrue Holiday comes up big against Hawks