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The Milwaukee Bucks held off a fourth-quarter comeback by the Trae Young-less Atlanta Hawks to win 114-105 at State Farm Arena and improve to 27-14 on the season.
Brook Lopez and Jrue Holiday carried the Bucks to victory, combining for 47 points, 16 rebounds and six assists in the win.
Giannis Antetokounmpo, however, had a disappointing performance in the scoring department against Atlanta, and it nearly cost his team a win. He finished with just seven points on 3-of-10 shooting from the floor, though he did account for 18 rebounds and 10 assists.
Antetokounmpo’s seven-point performance is only the second time this season he has been limited to less than 10 points in a game. The other came on Jan. 6 in a loss to the Charlotte Hornets when he scored nine points.
Regardless, the Bucks were still praised for their victory on Wednesday night. Holiday, in particular, caught the eyes of many after finishing with 27 points and putting up a “clutch” performance:
Mitchell Skurzewski @MSkurzewski
Clutch Jrue is back. And Jevon Carter hit some big 3s late as #Bucks look poised to withstand huge Hawks rally. #FeartheDeer @BucksLead
Steve Fifer @SparkyRadio
We always talk about Middleton being that guy late in game’s but Jrue is getting to be that guy lately. #Bucks
Drew Beringer @drewberinger
Jrue Holiday makes the Bucks a championship team #FearTheDeer
NBA All-World @nbaallworld
Man @Jrue_Holiday11 been balling this season for the @Bucks. He’s definitely been clutch during crunch time throughout the season. #NBATwitter #FearTheDeer
StatMuse @statmuse
Jrue Holiday tonight:
27 PTS
5 AST
10-21 FGLeading the Bucks in assists, steals and threes this season. pic.twitter.com/6rI8UwIU2u
Jake Weinbach @JWeinbachNBA
Jrue Holiday has been sooo clutch down the stretch this season. Although, Bucks can’t solely rely on Jrue isolations each late-game possession during these tight games.
Want to see more creative actions/sets, especially that involve Giannis, more often in clutch situations.
Holiday is having another solid season. He entered Wednesday’s game averaging 18.1 points, 5.0 rebounds and 7.1 assists in 29 games while shooting 44.6 percent from the floor and 37.3 percent from deep.
If Holiday continues to play as he did on Wednesday, the Bucks will continue to be one of the toughest teams to play against in the Eastern Conference. That said, Antetokounmpo needs to be better, and the team would benefit from the return of Khris Middleton, who hasn’t played since Dec. 15 due to a knee injury.
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