The Milwaukee Bucks will play the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night, with both teams on strong winning streaks.
This game will be the second night of a back-to-back for the Bucks, who defeated the Detroit Pistons 128-107 in NBA Cup action on Tuesday. That win helped them finish 4-0 in the tournament and advance to the quarterfinals.
Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 28 points on nearly perfect shooting, going 10-for-11, while also recording eight assists and seven rebounds. Damian Lillard added 27 points and five assists.
“It’s great — they put a tournament in front of us, and we want to win it. We said that early on,” said Bucks coach Doc Rivers. “We’re 4-0, but we still have a lot of work to do.”
The Bucks have won seven straight games and nine of their last 10 after starting the season 2-8. As a result of advancing in the NBA Cup, they will host the Orlando Magic in the quarterfinals next Tuesday.
The Hawks have also reached the quarterfinals and will face the New York Knicks in New York on Dec. 11.
Atlanta has won four games in a row, including a 124-112 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday. With that win, the Hawks have reached a .500 record for the season.
De’Andre Hunter came off the bench to lead the Hawks with 22 points, but all nine players who played scored at least eight points, with seven players scoring in double digits.
“We had a lot of guys that didn’t shoot well, playing through that, that’s something we’ve talked about,” said Atlanta coach Quin Snyder. “It’s hard; there’s a natural tendency to be frustrated, but overcoming that is important. I feel we did that for the most part tonight.”
Trae Young leads the Hawks with an average of 20.9 points per game, while Jalen Johnson averages 20.0 points. Young also leads the NBA with 12.2 assists, and Johnson leads the Hawks with 9.8 rebounds per game.
Eight players on the Hawks are averaging double figures in scoring.
Antetokounmpo leads the NBA in scoring with 32.7 points per game, and he also averages 11.7 rebounds, which leads the Bucks. Lillard averages 7.6 assists, and Brook Lopez adds 2.4 blocked shots per game.
On the injury front, the Bucks were without MarJon Beauchamp (hamstring) and Khris Middleton (ankle) on Tuesday. Middleton has not played yet this season. The Bucks had not released an update on their injury status as of Wednesday morning.
For the Hawks, Young is listed as probable for Wednesday’s game due to right Achilles tendinitis, while Cody Zeller (personal) is out.
The all-time series between the Bucks and Hawks is almost tied, with Milwaukee holding a 119-117 lead.
The teams have split their last few seasons. Last year, Milwaukee won two of three games, and in 2022-23, they split 2-2. The Hawks won two of three in the 2021-22 season.
Wednesday’s game will be the first of four matchups between the teams this season. They will play again on Feb. 7 and March 4 in Atlanta, and March 30 in Milwaukee.
