On a Saturday afternoon Kids Game, the Hawks met the Bucks looking for their longest win streak since they won 19 straight way back in 2014-15. The Hawks were without Jonathan Kuminga, whereas the Bucks were missing Giannis Antetokounmpo and Ousmane Dieng.
Atlanta once again established early control of the contest, with solid defensive possessions leading to opportunities to score against scrambling Bucks defenses. Below, Onyeka Okongwu was able to stroll all the way down the lane before finding
Nickeil Alexander-Walker for a three:
But the Hawks fell asleep after the first timeout, and Milwaukee turned a 9-2 deficit into a 19-17 advantage — a stretch that included an 11-0 run.
The game went back and forth from there for the rest of the quarter, and the Hawks managed a 31-30 edge after 12 minutes.
CJ McCollum continued to display the same consistent shot-making ability he’s had his whole career, like on this nice stepback:
Atlanta was having a hard time stringing together stops after the opening minutes, however. Ryan Rollins in particular gave the Hawks tons of trouble.
Still, ‘NAW’ practically seemed determined to match him shot for shot:
Atlanta used their starters to take control of the game again, eventually pushing the lead to 54-43 with 3:19 left in the first half.
At halftime, the Hawks led 60-52. Jalen Johnson and Nickeil Alexander-Walker tied for Atlanta’s leading scorer at half with 13.
CJ McCollum caught fire in the third quarter, helping extend the Hawks lead to 15 at one point. With this triple, he passed Paul Pierce for 16th on the all-time three-pointers NBA career leaderboard:
The Hawks continued to pour it on, and they pushed the lead up to 20 in the third quarter. Zaccharie Risacher also got into the action from the setup by Gabe Vincent:
They’d settle for *just* a 17-point margin after three quarters, 95-78.
The good guys stayed with it in the fourth quarter, never letting the game slip away against an undermanned Bucks team. The Hawks won 122-99.
Jalen Johnson netted another triple-double, his 12th of the year, with 23 points, 12 assists, and 10 rebounds. CJ McCollum recorded a 30-ball on 10-for-18 (56%) shooting and 7-for-10 (70%) shooting from three.
A big key to victory was winning both the rebounding battle (47 to 37) and the turnover battle (20 to 13).
The Hawks aim for 10 straight against the Orlando Magic on Monday evening.
