Hornets 114, Bucks 106: Antetokounmpo's massive fourth quarter isn't enough to rally Milwaukee

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – If there was a silver lining in playing the second game of a back-to-back without your starting backcourt, the Milwaukee Bucks had one in seeing their starting lineup have perhaps its lightest workload possible in a big win in Brooklyn on Friday night.

Giannis Antetokounmpo (27 minutes) and Khris Middleton (30) were able to have a managed workload, and it was needed in taking on a youthful, fast-paced Charlotte Hornets teams Saturday night the Spectrum Center.

Without star point guard Jrue Holiday and backup George Hill, Middleton and Antetokounmpo assumed the bulk of the ballhandling against the Nets and slowed the pace, Middleton said, to make sure the Bucks got into their right spots. The Hornets, on the other hand, entered the game as the fastest-paced team in the league in averaging 101.33 possessions per game.

Box score: Hornets 114, Bucks 106

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The little bit of rest in New York and the clashing styles – along with a lack of rhythm due to 45 total personal fouls – didn’t help the Bucks, however, in a 114-106 loss.

The Bucks fell to 2-3 on the back end of back-to-backs and dropped to 26-16 in losing for the third time in their last four games. Charlotte improved to 21-19.

“I mean, (Friday) night was definitely a slower paced game and tonight was faster – they’re an up-tempo team that likes to get up and down,” Middleton said. “I think we did a great job of still playing at our pace, not playing too fast, but also not just walking the ball up like we did the other night.

"Credit them, they kind of force you to play their style of basketball a little bit but I think we did a great job of controlling the pace and not getting too sloppy or just getting into a running shoot-out with them.”

Not only were the Hornets willing and able to run, they wanted to launch threes. They came into the game as the second-best three-point shooting team in the league (38.1%) and had eight regulars shooting at least 37.8%. They put up 48 shots from deep and made 16, including a dagger by Terry Rozier with 34.1 seconds left to put the Hornets up 111-104.

“That’s a tough one,” Bucks acting head coach Darvin Ham said of Rozier’s three. “We have a mantra where we say ‘no screen, no scheme’ when it comes to our pick-and-roll coverage. We decided to go with the five guys that was on the court, Bobby (Portis) was on the ball and I thought Wes may have anticipated Bobby being ready for the switch. Slips are tough.

"That’s why so many people do ‘em, especially with a some small pick and roll. They’re tough to gauge because you have one guy where you open up the least amount and you have two guys going with the slip guy or nobody going with the slip guy or a straight line drive downhill and causes someone to have to help and get a wide open corner three.

“I just thought Wes decided to be aggressive and the reactionary time wasn’t what it should’ve ben and he slipped out so early it just impossible (to cover).”

The Bucks couldn’t draw closer than five after that.

Portis called it a mix-up with Matthews and added, “Great play call from them. He slipped out of it, was wide open, took his time and lined the ball up and knocked a big shot down. It’s probably the dagger in the game for us.”

Behind a monster 21-point fourth quarter from Antetokounmpo the Bucks once again staged a late rally after falling behind double digits.

It appeared P.J. Washington had put the defending champions away with 5:18 left with a three-pointer that put the Hornets up 103-89, but Antetokounmpo would have none of it.

He went to work right after Washington’s three by going to the free throw line on back-to-back trips to start a stretch in which he scored 11 of the Bucks’ next 13 points. A putback with 1:40 to go got them within 108-102.

Middleton cut it to 108-104 with 57 seconds left, but Rozier somehow got loose for a wide open three-pointer from the left wing.

"I don't think we stop playing no matter what the score is, we're going to play to the end," Antetokounmpo said. "That's what we've been doing for four, five years now, is compete. We just try to get ourselves back to the game. We got ourselves back to the game. We got within four when they hit the big three.

"We've done it in the past and we've won some games. Sometimes we lost some games, but at the end of the day we're going to keep competing and keep trusting one another until the last second."

Antetokounmpo scored 43 points, his fifth game this season with at least 40 points. He made 18 of his 20 free throws and 11 of 20 from the floor, including 3 for 6 from behind the three-point line. He also pulled down 12 rebounds. Middleton nearly had a triple-double with 27 points, 10 rebound and nine assists. Bobby Portis had a double-double also, with 19 points and 13 rebounds.

But they were the only Bucks to reach double figures, with Matthews scoring nine points. The Charlotte bench, led by Kelly Oubre Jr.’s 18 points, outscored Milwaukee’s 33-5.

The Bucks bench was a combined 2 for 15 from the floor, with rookie Sandro Mamukelashvili being the only one to make shots.

“We got a lot of those same looks (Friday) in Brooklyn and they went in,” Ham said. “You just have to live with it. It’s a make-or-miss league. Some nights you’re going to have the man on fire and some nights you’re going to be chipping the paint off the rim. It’s just one of those nights of chipping the paint off the rim.”

The Hornets also scored 21 points off 15 Bucks turnovers and outscored the Bucks 46-36 in the paint.

Rozier went 6 for 10 from behind the three-point line for a team-high 28 points. Miles Bridges had 21 points while LaMelo Ball added 19 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.

The Hornets scored 42 points in the third quarter and stretched a six-point halftime lead to as many as 17 as they managed to stave off any potential Bucks rally with key baskets of their own. Rozier scored 15 points in the quarter, including 3 three-pointers while Oubre punctuated several fast breaks with powerful dunks to keep the home crowd lively.

“Our third quarters are just trash,” Portis said. “We have to be real with ourselves. That’s rule No. 1 always, you gotta keep it real with yourself. The last couple weeks the third quarters for the Bucks have been really, really bad and we have to find a way to clean that up.”

Milwaukee cut the leads to 57-50, 65-54 and 75-66 but each time Charlotte prevented the momentum from completely turning. Antetokounmpo scored 14 in the quarter and tried to carry the Bucks back into shouting distance, but Milwaukee couldn’t string stops together to prevent the Hornets from taking a 89-75 lead into the fourth quarter.

Charlotte used a trio of runs that spanned the end off the first quarter and the bulk of the second to take a 47-41 lead into the half over Milwaukee. Neither team shot the ball particularly well in the opening half (30.6% for the Bucks, 38.3% for the Hornets), which was muddied by 17 personal fouls and 14 turnovers.

Each team put up 24 three-pointers, but Charlotte made eight to Milwaukee’s seven. Each team also shot five free throws, with the Bucks making four and the Hornets three. The difference in the half came via a 11-0 Hornets run early in the second quarter that flipped a 31-27 Bucks lead to a 38-31 Hornets advantage.

A Middleton three ended that run, but a few minutes later Bridges and Ball combined for a 7-0 spurt that pushed the Charlotte advantage to 47-39 with 3:16 to go in the half. From there, the Bucks held the Hornets scoreless but only managed two points themselves in going 1-for-11 in the final 4:34 of the half.

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Middleton led the Bucks with 16 points, six rebounds and four assists while Matthews scored nine. Antetokounmpo had eight points on 3 of 7 shooting. Bridges led the Hornets with 12 points and Rozier added 10. Ball was just 3-for-10 for eight points in the first half.

The Bucks actually started the game on fire, making six of their first 10 shots in taking an 18-12 lead in the first half of the first quarter. They pushed that lead to 27-16 with 3:24 left, but then their shooting went cold. The Hornets ended the quarter on an 8-0 run, and the Bucks finished the final 2:33 missing their last four shots.

Before the game, Ham said there was a chance Mike Budenholzer (health and safety protocols) and Holiday (left ankle soreness) could travel to Charlotte and rejoin the team prior to Monday’s rematch with the Hornets. Holiday tested out of the health and safety protocol while in Milwaukee, but Ham said the point guard had also tweaked his ankle against Toronto on Jan. 5.

Budenholzer has been in the health and safety protocol since Jan. 5 as well.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Hornets 114, Bucks 106: Rally behind Giannis Antetokounmpo falls short