Giannis Antetokounmpo’s late dunk lifts Bucks past Hornets
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 30 points and threw down a game-winning alley-oop slam to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a thrilling 122-121 victory over the visiting Charlotte Hornets on Friday.
Antetokounmpo grabbed 10 rebounds and dished five assists, giving him the most 30-point, 10-rebound, five-assist games in NBA history, 158. He broke the record he briefly shared with Oscar Robertson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Ryan Rollins added 29 points, on 11-of-13 shooting, and eight assists for Milwaukee. Bobby Portis contributed 20 off the bench as the Bucks won for the third time in four games.
Milwaukee native Kon Knueppel led Charlotte with 26 points while Miles Bridges added 25. Brandon Miller, who just missed what would have been a buzzer-beating game-winner, added 19.
The fourth quarter came down to a wild back-and-forth.
Down by two, the Bucks got 3-pointers from Rollins and Kuzma sandwiching a Bridges hoop to take a 120-118 advantage with 10.5 seconds left.
Charlotte then pulled off an improbable alley-oop out-of-bounds play to Bridges, who slammed Sion James' pass through a foul from Kuzma. Bridges completed the three-point play to give the Hornets a 121-120 edge with 8.8 seconds to go.
Antetokounmpo and Kevin Porter Jr. then played a two-man game, and Antetokounmpo finished the dunk on a lob pass with 4.7 seconds remaining.
Miller then missed what would have been a game-winner at the buzzer from point-blank range.
Charlotte threw quite the punch in the opening quarter, going on a 16-2 run to enter the second with a 38-24 advantage.
A solid end to the second got the Bucks back within single digits before Charlotte went into halftime up 60-51.
Knueppel scored 17 points in the half while Rollins led Milwaukee with 15 on 4-of-5 shooting from deep.
The Bucks picked things up on offense in the third, scoring 36 points, though they still struggled to keep the Hornets down. Charlotte led 91-87 going into the fourth.