By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Milwaukee Bucks proved they are still a well-oiled machine without their superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo and pounded their way to a 123-112 Eastern Conference Finals Game 5 victory against the Atlanta Hawks.
Khris Middleton, Jrue Holiday, and Brook Lopez spearheaded the offensive avalanche for the Bucks that put them in an ideal position going up by as many as 20 points.
After two slow starts on Atlanta’s home floor, the Bucks picked up the pace and was on attack mode the whole night.
Lopez was an unstoppable force for Milwaukee and finally had his breakout game of the series after shooting 14-18 from the field to finish with a game-high 33 points and seven rebounds.
On top of the big man’s solid scoring production, Lopez’s interior protection also provided defensive stops for the Bucks with his four blocks and two steals.
Bogdan Bogdanovic had a stellar night shooting the ball and sank seven three-pointers but his 28 points weren’t enough to halt the surging Bucks.
Atlanta was playing catch-up the whole time and never got close to taking the lead for the whole four quarters that forced head coach Nate McMillan to re-shuffle his rotation and let his top guns play heavier minutes.
Bobby Portis Jr. also came up big and electrified the Milwaukee home court with his hustle plays and paint dominance and finished the game with 22 points and eight rebounds.
Atlanta will seek to deadlock the series at 3-3 and force a win-or-go-home Game 7 but will still wait for their superstar Trae Young’s final playing status.
