Jim Owczarski on Giannis Antetokounmpo’s reaction to boos
What does Bucks reporter Jim Owczarski make of Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo taking exception to booing at Fiserv Forum?
ATLANTA – The Milwaukee Bucks opened the second half of their season at State Farm Arena by holding on to a 112-110 victory over the Atlanta Hawks in the NBA’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day matinee showcase on Jan. 19.
The Bucks snapped a three-game losing streak to improve to 18-24 overall and sent the Hawks (20-25) to their fourth straight defeat.
Milwaukee blew a 21-point third quarter lead and trailed briefly late in the fourth quarter but managed to pull it out in the closing minute.
Trailing by a point, Bobby Portis Jr. knocked down a go-ahead 3-pointer with 54 seconds left to give the Bucks a 107-105 lead. Giannis Antetokounmpo then stole the ball from Wausau native and emerging Hawks star Jalen Johnson and kicked it ahead to Portis, who flipped it back to Antetokounmpo for a layup.
Atlanta’s Nickeil Alexander-Walker made it a 1-point game with 12.6 seconds left, and after Milwaukee’s Ryan Rollins split a pair of free throws with 11.4 seconds left, the Bucks forced Hawks guard CJ McCollum into a tough, fading 20-footer that hit the front of the rim.
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Antetokounmpo secured the rebound, and the victory.
Antetokounmpo finished with 21 points on 7 of 12 shooting, but he wasn’t really involved in the offense down the stretch. He attempted just four shots as the Bucks struggled to close out the game, but Portis and AJ Green did hit big 3-pointers late.
Antetokounmpo also had 17 rebounds and six assists.
Portis had 19 off the bench while Green had 18. Johnson had 28 points on 24 shots for Atlanta while Alexander-Walker scored 32, including 17 in the fourth quarter when he made 5 of 6 from behind the 3-point line. McCollum scored 12 of his 17 in the fourth.
Bucks change starting lineup, rotation
After a 10-game stretch of starting games with guards Kevin Porter Jr., Ryan Rollins, AJ Green, forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and center Myles Turner, Bucks head coach Doc Rivers changed things up for the game in Atlanta.
He moved Porter to the bench and moved up Kyle Kuzma, recreating an opening unit that last started games together from Nov. 14-17. The team was 1-2 in those games, though Antetokounmpo left the loss at Cleveland on Nov. 17 with an adductor injury.
Kuzma hasn’t started since Dec. 26 at Memphis when he was filling in for an injured Antetokounmpo.
The Bucks’ season-opening group of Gary Trent Jr., Porter, Green, Antetokounmpo and Turner played 10 of the first 11 games together (Antetokounmpo sat out one game) before Rivers moved to the lineup with Kuzma in mid-November.
Not only did Rivers change up the starting lineup, he amended the rotation after that.
After Porter and Bobby Portis Jr. subbed in for Green and Antetokounmpo, Gary Harris replaced Ryan Rollins and two-way player Pete Nance subbed in for Kuzma with 2 minutes, 42 seconds left in the first quarter.
The Bucks took a 20-19 lead after the opening quarter, with the Bucks’ “non-Giannis” minutes only being a minus-1 because he exited the game with the Bucks up 13-11. But that bench group of Porter, Portis, Harris, Nance and Green opened the second quarter and eventually went on a 13-0 run and helped Milwaukee take a 16-point lead by the time Antetokounmpo checked back in at the 6:16 mark.
Nance put an exclamation point on that run after he blocked a shot and then collected an offensive rebound and assisted on a Green 3-pointer to put the Bucks up 36-21.
That group didn’t have as much success in the second half however, as the Hawks began chipping away at a 21-point deficit. By the time the third quarter ended, it was a game again as the Bucks led just 80-72.
That group settled down in the fourth and rebuilt the lead to a dozen by the time Antetokounmpo checked back in with 8:20 to go in the game. Nance played a role in that, too, chasing down a loose ball in the back court and converting a layup and then knocking down a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer.
Before the game, Rivers acknowledged he had exhausted pretty much every lineup combination available when Antetokounmpo has been on the bench, but adding in Nance definitely did that. It was Nance’s 12th appearance with the Bucks on the year, but his first real chance in the rotation.
Nance, 25, has been in the league since 2023 and played in Cleveland and Philadelphia before signing his first two-way deal with the Bucks last season. In seven games with the Wisconsin Herd, the Bucks’ G League affiliate, Nance shot 46.2% from behind the 3-point line and 61.7% overall while pulling down 8.0 rebounds per game.
The previous starting lineup reunited late in the second quarter with the Bucks up 16 points and they pushed the lead to 20 before Kuzma subbed in for Porter.
Milwaukee had gone 7-5 with that group of Porter, Rollins, Green, Antetokounmpo and Turner starting games, and as a unit they had produced one of the best offensive and defensive ratings in the league over 172 minutes played heading into the game vs. Atlanta.
Guard Gary Trent Jr. was the one regular moved out of the rotation in favor of Nance.
5 numbers
9-8: Bucks record against teams with a .500 or worse record on the day of the game.
8.5: Percent chance the Bucks can make the playoffs before the game, per ESPN Analytics.
20.3: Percent chance the Bucks can win a top four pick in the 2026 NBA Draft before the game, per the lottery-tracking site www.tankathon.com.
21: Straight missed 3-pointers for Atlanta in the first half before CJ McCollum made the Hawks’ first with 27 seconds left. The make elicited a loud cheer from the home fans.
30: Minutes for Giannis Antetokounmpo vs. Atlanta.
Doc Rivers pregame, on if Antetokounmpo’s minute restriction will be lifted: “No, not anytime soon. This is planned. I think it’s probably frustrating for Giannis. It’s definitely frustrating for us. But we feel strongly this is the right thing to do and we’re not going to come off of it, probably for awhile.”
Doc Rivers speaks on significance of playing on MLK Day
Bucks head coach Doc Rivers spent eight seasons as a player in Atlanta from 1983-91 after leaving Marquette University, and the 64-year-old took some time before his team played the Hawks to speak on the significance of participating in the NBA’s annual showcase on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
King was born in Atlanta on Jan. 15, 1929.
Rivers began his pregame thoughts by saying he was a member of the Ebenezer Baptist Church while playing for the Hawks, where King had been a co-pastor. Rivers recalled that beyond learning about King while in Atlanta, he was able to spend time with civil rights and social justice leaders like Andy Young, John Lewis, Julian Bond and Maynard Jackson.
“This city made a lot of what I’m about,” Rivers said. “And those people, those pioneers, were very important in my life. Still are.”
Rivers, who has spoken up on several occasions this season about the activities of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in American cities, added that such leadership and conversations are “more important today than it’s ever been.”
“We’re being challenged all over the place,” he continued. “Without trying to get too political, though you almost can’t talk without being political because politics are a part our lives, our daily lives. And watching what’s going on in Minnesota and going on all over the place. Black and brown to me, right now, the fact that you have to carry papers on the street to identify that you’re an American is absurd. It’s crazy. And that’s what’s going on in our country.
“But, those people that I just named were always the most positive people. They always believed it would turn, it’s going to get better, keep voicing. If you think it’s morally wrong what anyone is doing, whether it’s Democratic or Republican, you need to speak up and keep speaking up. I’m doing that. It’s not my job. It should be everyone’s job.”
Rivers then complimented NBA commissioner Adam Silver and the league for continuing to honor Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the support in using his platform as a coach to speak his mind when needed.
“I guess they allow it, we don’t ask, but having said that you would know if you couldn’t, too,” Rivers said. “And no one says you couldn’t. Sometimes, I’ve heard from other coaches in the league that owners have reeled them in. That would never fly well with me. I think we all are Americans at the end of the day and we have the right to speak up. Even when we’re wrong, we have the right to speak up. Our league has done a great job of doing that. Adam’s been absolutely amazing honoring this day.
“The other thing that I feel strongly, probably most strongly about been over all the other stuff we talked about, is I believe in history. And we cannot allow history to be rewritten. We cannot allow history to be taken away. Our history is under attack right now in a major way. We just can’t stand for that. Because we learn from it. Whether it’s good history or bad history, it’s history, and it teaches us to be better. And more patient with each other when we actually learn what history is all about.”
Is Giannis playing?
Yes. Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo is not on the injury report and has played in 10 straight games heading into the Jan. 19 contest against the Hawks.
He has not played the last two fourth quarters of games, however, as the Bucks have been blown out by Minnesota and San Antonio.
What time is the Bucks game?
The game will tip off at noon CT.
What channel is the Bucks game on?
The game is on Peacock streaming only with Mark Followill, Austin Rivers and Ashley ShahAhmadi on the call.
- Taurean Prince, out (neck surgery)
Bucks starting lineup
- Guards: AJ Green, Ryan Rollins
- Forward: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kyle Kuzma
- Center: Myles Turner
Bucks vs. Hawks odds
Milwaukee is a 2.5-point favorite over Atlanta with the over/under set at 231.5 points, per BetMGM.
