The Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday showed they are more than a one-man show, using a balanced attack to dominate the Atlanta Hawks 123-112 in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Brook Lopez had a season-high 33 points, Jrue Holiday had 25 points and 13 assists, and Khris Middleton finished with 26 points and 13 rebounds for the Bucks, who grabbed a 3-2 series lead and are one win away from reaching the NBA Finals for the first time since 1974.
Milwaukee won despite playing without two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is out with an injured knee. He watched the game from the sidelines, standing with his teammates almost the entire game.
Photo: Benny Sieu-USA Today
In his absence, four Bucks starters scored more than 20 points, including Bobby Portis, who had 22 points and eight rebounds.
“We came out tonight and just did our best to dominate at both ends of the floor,” Lopez said. “We did a great job of playing together. When everyone is scoring and everyone is doing their thing it is tough on their defense.”
The best-of-seven series now switches back to Atlanta, Georgia, for Game 6 today. The winners of the series face the Phoenix Suns, who on Wednesday eliminated the Los Angeles Clippers to reach the NBA Finals for the first time in 28 years.
Role players and reserves were forced to step into the limelight as both clubs were missing their top scorers.
Antetokounmpo injured his knee in a loss in Game 4, while Hawks star Trae Young sat out his second straight game after he suffered a bone bruise in his right foot in Game 3.
Bogdan Bogdanovic scored a team-high 28 points for the Hawks in the road loss. John Collins and Danilo Gallinari each scored 19 points, while Lou Williams chipped in 17 for the Hawks, who need to prove in Game 6 that they can compete with a key piece of their puzzle missing.
Young was a spectator on the Hawks’ bench during the game.
“They were more physical. They hit us in the mouth and we just did not recover from that,” Hawks coach Nate McMillan said.
McMillan spoke to the team in the locker room after Game 5 and reminded them that the next one is do or die.
“This is a one game season now,” McMillan said.
“There is still a lot of basketball to be played. We got to go back home and take care of business. It is as simple as that,” he said.
Milwaukee improved to 7-1 at home in the playoffs. They were 6-5 without Antetokounmpo in the lineup during the regular season and 40-21 with him.
The 26-year-old Antetokounmpo sustained the injury during the third quarter of the Bucks’ 110-88 loss in Game 4 on Tuesday.
He was contesting an alley-oop attempt by Hawks center Clint Capela when he landed awkwardly and twisted his knee.
Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer had plenty of praise for the way Lopez stepped up in Game 5.
“It was a great opportunity for him to get the ball more and to use him a little more,” Budenholzer said. “He came through big time. He did it on the pick and roll, he did it on the offensive glass and he got to the free-throw line. Just an overall impressive effort.”
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