Milwaukee, Dec. 2 (BUS): Giannis Antetokounmpo scored a corner kick with two seconds left to give Milwaukee a 127-125 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night, the Bucks’ eighth straight win.
Antetokounmpo scored 40 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, and Chris Middleton added 21 points for the Bucks.
“Giannis is just great. Reading the defensive and attacking style,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “Anytime we can get him with the ball in this kind of situation, we feel he’ll play well.”
The last minute witnessed a lot of weighting between the two teams. Middleton buried a three-pointer from the top left to put Milwaukee ahead 123-122 with 52 seconds left. The Associated Press reported that Antitokonmo’s throw after the Bucks’ next possession was disallowed due to an offensive foul.
Gordon Hayward missed a jump off the Hornets’ top key, and Middleton hit two free throws to make it 125-122 with 8.6 seconds remaining.
LaMelo Ball made a lackluster three-pointer – his eighth in the game – 5.9 seconds left to pull the Hornets even at 125. After a timeout, Jru Holliday fed Antetokounmpo near the top of the fairway for a shot on the reverse left side.
“I hadn’t seen the play, but I knew in the location I was in, that there were two different paths,” Antetokounmpo said. “Float it or try to sneak up on it, and when you try to sneak up on it, you have to spin. If you go back to normal, you will most likely block it.”
Middleton said winning the Antitoconmo match was more difficult than it seemed.
“People talk about him being dominant, but in that shot you can see the skill he has,” Middleton said. “He doesn’t always flood people, he doesn’t always use the jump hook. This layup is tough even for the goalkeepers, and he’s a seventh-place player finishing the match. Going, then under his arm, flipping him over with a little spin of the glass, that just shows you what kind of skill he has.” as a player.”
Paul scored 36 points for the Hornets, a career-high, followed by Kelly Uber Jr. with 25 points and Miles Bridges with 22.
Charlotte made 10 of 17 from behind the arc in the opening quarter, and the Oubre 3-pointer in the final seconds put the Hornets ahead 41-25 to enter the second half. Uber scored 20 points in the first inning, making 5 of 7 3-pointers. The Hill 3 pointer from the left corner brought bucks in the 68-60 range in half.
Milwaukee took its first lead at 91-90 in a three-point play for George Hill with 2:25 left in the third quarter.
“A great effort on the road against a really good team,” Hornets coach James Borrego said. “I came with the right mentality right from the start. I played for 48 minutes the right way. I don’t have a minute where I didn’t think we were playing the right way.”
The ball hit 12 of 22 shots, including 8 of 15 from outside the arc, along with nine assists.
“He’s been growing up all year, he’s a great player, we’re lucky to have him, we’re lucky to have him,” Borrego said, adding his “fantastic courage and composure” against the NBA champions. “He is a great player. He is only getting better. That is just the tip of the iceberg. The kid has a bright and bright future.”
Hint
Hornets: Charlotte came in last in scoring defenses with a score of 114.9 points per game and no two of her top defenders were F Cody Martin (disease) and C Mason Plumley (right calf injury).
“We have to be a much better defensive team. We understand that,” Borrego said. “The last five teams defensively don’t win consistently in this league. I’ve never seen that before. First-class defenses do just that. This is our goal.”
Bucks: With C Brook Lopez sidelined since the opener (backache), Milwaukee signed veteran free agent DeMarcus Cousins, who was available on Wednesday night. The 6-foot-10 Cousins averaged 8.9 points, 6.4 rebounds and 17.4 minutes in 41 games last season with the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Clippers.
Their cousins played 14 minutes, scoring seven points. Budenholzer said before the game that he thinks Cousins is “mentally…in a good place, so we’re excited to host him, whatever it is, 60 games or so.”
the following
Hornets: In Atlanta on Sunday.
Bucks: In Toronto on Thursday.