ATLANTA — Giannis Antetokounmpo had 21 points and 17 rebounds and the Milwaukee Bucks snapped a three-game losing streak, holding off the Atlanta Hawks 112-110 on Monday after squandering a 23-point lead in the second half.
The Hawks led 105-104 on Jalen Johnson's 3-pointer with 1:11 remaining before dropping their fourth in a row in the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day game played in the hometown of the civil rights icon.
AJ Green and Bobby Portis hit back-to-back 3s, Johnson turned the ball over and Antetokounmpo powered inside for a basket that made it 109-105 with 36 seconds to go.
The Hawks still had a chance after Nickeil Alexander-Walker connected from outside the stripe and Ryan Rollins missed a free throw for the Bucks. But CJ McCollum bobbled the ball and wound up flinging an off-balance shot that clanked off the rim to seal it for Milwaukee.
Atlanta nearly won after missing its first 21 shots from 3-point range. The Hawks trailed 54-38 at halftime and 74-51 approaching the midway point of the third period before finally coming to life.
Alexander-Walker led the Hawks with 32 points, while Johnson had 28 points and 16 rebounds. The Bucks were more balanced, with six players in double figures.
Milwaukee made a lineup change, dropping Kevin Porter Jr. from the starting five. After starting all 22 games he had played this season, Porter was replaced by Kyle Kuzma.
Porter was benched after a rough January that included an 0-for-9 shooting performance in Milwaukee's previous game, a blowout loss to the San Antonio Spurs. He played 28 minutes against the Hawks with nine points, seven assists and six rebounds.
