ATLANTA — Khris Middleton scored 20 of his playoff career high-tying 38 points in the fourth quarter, leading the Milwaukee Bucks to a 113-102 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday night for a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.

Trae Young scored 35 points for Atlanta but was slowed in the final quarter after injuring his right ankle when he stepped on an official’s foot late in the third.

Middleton scored 10 points in a 13-3 run in the fourth that gave Milwaukee the lead.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 33 points for the Bucks, who trailed most of the game before surging in the fourth quarter. Atlanta led 95-88 before Middleton made his first of three 3-pointers during the 13-3 run.

After never leading in a 125-91 Game 2 loss, the Hawks were eager for a better start in their first home game of the series. Turnovers by Middleton and Antetokounmpo led to dunks by Clint Capela, and Kevin Huerter added a 3-pointer for a 7-0 lead.

The Hawks stretched the advantage to 13 points. Antetokounmpo was held to five first-quarter points but regained his scoring form in the second quarter. He scored 11 points as the Bucks finally pulled even at 56-all on a 3-pointer by Pat Connaughton with 12 seconds remaining in the half.

The Bucks took their first lead at 82-80 on a basket by Bobby Portis Jr. with 1:47 remaining in the third. A 3-pointer by Danilo Gallinari gave Atlanta an 85-83 lead at the end of the quarter.

Hawks fans followed the recent trend of opposing fans counting Antetokounmpo’s time at the free-throw line, usually counting past 10 before he launched an attempt.

Fans cheered when he missed each of his first two free throws in the first quarter. He threw an airball from the line in the second quarter, again earning cheers from the sellout crowd.

Antetokounmpo was only 6 of 13 for the game.

TIP-INS

Bucks: Antetokounmpo was on the injury report as probable because of left calf tightness but did not appear to be affected by the injury. He had 11 rebounds. … Portis scored 15 points.

Hawks: Young remained seated on the court for a few seconds after his ankle injury before heading to the locker room. He returned with 8:44 remaining. … Forward Cam Reddish was available but did not play after scoring 11 points in Game 2 in his return from an Achilles tendon injury. It was his first action since Feb. 21. Coach Nate McMillan said he was not yet ready to move Reddish into a more prominent role.

 

 

SUNS: Deandre Ayton is rapidly become the player the Phoenix Suns imagined when the ping-pong balls bounced their way for the 2018 NBA draft.

The third-year center was in top form Saturday in a hard-fought 84-80 win over the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals. He scored 19 points, grabbed a playoff career-high 22 rebounds, blocked four shots, and was generally the only person on the floor who could put the ball in the basket with any kind of consistency.

Now the Suns have a 3-1 series lead and are one win from a trip to the NBA finals for the first time since 1993.

Game 5 is on Monday in Phoenix.

“I thought Deandre’s presence, his effort, the rebounding, shot blocking, his communication on defense, switching out on smaller guys and being able to guard them, he was the catalyst on the defensive end,” Suns Coach Monty Williams said. “I thought it was an unreal performance from him. Our guys rallied around him.”

Williams added of Ayton: “Every possession he’s playing like his life depends on it.”

There have certainly been some growing pains for the No. 1 overall pick out of Arizona. His rookie year was decent, though his effort on the defensive end was sometimes inconsistent. His second year was marred by a 25-game suspension for violating the league’s Anti-Drug policy after testing positive for a diuretic.

It was easy to wonder if the Suns had made the right choice.

Now there’s not much concern. The 22-year-old has already had one of the iconic moments in Suns playoff basketball history when he dunked an alley-oop pass from Jae Crowder with 0.7 seconds left to win Game 2 last week.

It was another example of Ayton’s newfound confidence and tenacity.

“I learned I could keep going,” Ayton said. “There’s another level – I learned that. I think I reached the next level that I really need to be at, at this level when it comes to competing.”

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