MILWAUKEE _ The Milwaukee Bucks didn't have an answer for Charlotte Hornets point guard Kemba Walker throughout the night Friday. With just under 2{ minutes left, Walker reached 32 points on a layup that put the Hornets up by four.
Less than a minute later, Walker was out of the game and things changed drastically, as the Bucks closed on a nine-point run to earn a 109-104 victory at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.
Milwaukee responded to Walker's layup with a dunk by Giannis Antetokounmpo, who finished in a crowd off a feed from Eric Bledsoe. Then, Walker pushed ahead and lost control of the ball, going to the ground in the process. Earlier in the half, he'd subbed out and gone to his hands and knees in obvious pain, a position he returned to as Bledsoe made the steal and the Bucks went the other way, with Antetokounmpo taking advantage of the 5-on-4 by hitting Khris Middleton for a wide-open dunk.
Charlotte interim head coach Stephen Silas then called timeout and Walker never returned, joining center Dwight Howard on the bench after Howard suffered a dislocated left ring finger in the first quarter.
The Bucks closed out the victory from there with stifling defense and relentless attacks on the rim. Bledsoe deposited a tough layup and Antetkounmpo battled to the hoop to put Milwaukee up four before Bledsoe added a free throw.
Defensively, Antetokounmpo picked up a steal, Bledsoe flew in to block a dunk attempt by Jeremy Lamb and the Hornets missed their final four shots.
Middleton led the Bucks with 28 points and opened the fourth quarter as the team's center as both squads went small. Antetokounmpo added 26 and Bledsoe had 24 to go with 10 assists.
The Bucks rode those three _ Antetokounmpo, Middleton and Bledsoe _ in the first quarter, with each taking his turn to shine. Antetokounmpo and Bledsoe each had seven points in the first five minutes before Middleton shook loose midway through the period with five straight points. By the end of the quarter, the three had combined for 24 of Milwaukee's 26 points while each getting a turn on the bench as the Bucks took a three-point lead into the second.
As the Bucks went to their bench more in the following period, their lead became more tenuous. Milwaukee held its own against Charlotte's bench unit, which included familiar faces Michael Carter-Williams and Frank Kaminsky, not to mention Johnny O'Bryant, who would have been in that unit had Howard not suffered the injury to his left hand in the first few minutes of the game.
But things changed in a hurry when Walker returned to the game.
Over the four-plus minutes Walker logged in the second quarter, the Hornets exploded for an 18-7 run to build a 10-point lead. Walker was at the head of the charge, scoring 10 of his 20 first-half points while making three shots in a row during that span as the Hornets went on to own a 59-52 advantage at halftime.
The teams traded runs out of the half with the Hornets leading by as many as 12. With 5:50 left in the third and the Bucks down 11, coach Jason Kidd turned to his lineup with Antetokounmpo at center, inserting Sean Kilpatrick for the first time.
That lineup worked wonders, with Kilpatrick and Malcolm Brogdon each immediately making 3-pointers as the Bucks used a 12-0 run to take the lead.
