Atlanta Hawks rallied from an early deficit and pulled away in the second half Wednesday night, defeating the Milwaukee Bucks 131–113 for their fifth straight win.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker led Atlanta with 23 points, while Onyeka Okongwu added 21. Jalen Johnson finished with 20 points and nine assists as the Hawks improved to 32–31, climbing above .500 for the first time since December.
Atlanta erased a 16-point first-half deficit and dominated after halftime, outscoring Milwaukee 65–42 in the second half. CJ McCollum contributed 18 points and Dyson Daniels recorded 14 points and 10 rebounds in the win.
The Hawks were without Jonathan Kuminga, who sat out with inflammation in his left knee.
Milwaukee (26–35) dropped its fourth straight game and has now lost by a combined 97 points during that stretch. The Bucks also fell five games behind Atlanta and the Charlotte Hornets in the race for ninth place in the Eastern Conference.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 24 points in his second game back after missing five weeks with a right calf strain. He was assessed a technical foul late in the fourth quarter after throwing the ball against the stanchion in frustration following a Daniels basket that pushed Atlanta’s lead to 121–103 with 4:20 remaining.
Ryan Rollins had 13 points and 12 assists for Milwaukee, while Kyle Kuzma added 16 points two nights after sitting out an entire loss to the Boston Celtics.
The Bucks led 71–66 at halftime after both teams shot at least 60% from the field in a high-scoring first half. But Milwaukee went cold to start the third quarter, scoring just two points over the first 5:56 as Atlanta opened the period with a 10–0 run to seize control for good.
Up next: The Hawks host the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday, while the Bucks return home to face the Utah Jazz.
