Charlotte, North Carolina, Jan. 9 (BUS): Terry Roser scored 28 points, Miles Bridges added 21 points and eight rebounds, and the Charlotte Hornets beat the Milwaukee Bucks 114-106 on Saturday night, to hand the defending champion his third loss in the league. Four games.
The LaMelo Ball scored 19 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for the Hornets, who had the Milwaukee shot 38.9% in the Bucks’ second game on the road in two nights, The Associated Press reports.
Giannis Antetokounmue scored 43 points and 12 rebounds while Khris Middleton added 27 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists for Milwaukee, who won in Brooklyn on Friday but slipped to 13-9 on the road. Antetokounmpo finished 18 of 20 from the free throw line.
“This is a big win for us,” Hornets coach James Borrego said.
Added bridges: “This gives us confidence. They are world champions for a reason.”
The two teams meet again on Monday in Charlotte.
“They are playing hard and they are fascist,” Antetokonmo said. “They are man-to-man and then they go into the zone. … We have to trust each other and just focus on ourselves.”
Roser continued his blistering pace from the 3-point range going 6 of 10, including a massive 3 with 34 seconds left to put the Hornets ahead by seven points.
Rozier has made 36 three-pointers over his last eight games, while shooting 49.3% from outside the arc.
“Terry is a rental pistol,” Borrego said. “He’s an elite guy who picks and shoots.”
Charlotte led 47-41 in the first half after carrying Antetokounmpo to eight points and the Bucks by 30.6% in the first half.
Milwaukee trailed by 14 with 4:50 left in the game, but Antetokounmue and Middleton put them back, cutting the difference to four with 47.5 seconds remaining by a series of big baskets. This included an offensive throwback from Antetokounmpo, whose unintentional flying elbow left Mason Plumley with a wound above his eye.
But Roeser buried a crucial 3-point pointer from the left wing to push the lead to seven, keep the Bucks a safe distance and put Bridges away with a quick breakout break to play three points with 10.7 seconds left.
“I only know that the entire gym was staring at Milo, so I just tried to create some confusion for the defense,” Rosier said of his three pointer.
Milwaukee’s Bobby Portez said he’s been watching the Hornets a lot this season and has impressed them, calling them a fun team with some of the top players at Ball and Bridges.
He also knows the Bucks are doing their best this season.
“We won last year, so every game for us is going to be a big game,” said Portes, who scored 19 points and 13 rebounds. “In every match, teams come for us. So we have to compete at a high level in every match.”
More attack is needed
Antetokounmue, Middleton and Portis combined to score 89 points and shoot 29 of 54 from the field. But this trio didn’t get much help from the rest of the team.
The other eight Milwaukee players who played were 6 out of 36 from the field and only had 17 points.
How to search for OUBR
Kelly Uber had 18 points with the Hornets after a game in which he earned 32 points from nine three-pointers — including an NBA record eight in the fourth quarter — in a big win over the Detroit Pistons. He was only 2 of 11 from behind the arc against the Bucks, but he found other ways to be effective by sliding to the edge, slipping behind defenders on back cuts and running the field to end quick breaks.
Hint
Bucks: Junior Holiday, Grayson Allen, Pat Connaughton and George Hill did not play due to health and safety protocols, while Brooke Lopez stayed out while recovering from back surgery. …Middleton had six transformations.
Hornets: 16-of-48 shot from 3-point range after a 24 3-second lead in 42 attempts against the Pistons.