Detailed News: In an attempt to secure a better seeding in the NBA play-in round, the Atlanta Hawks upset the Chicago Bulls 113-101.

points within the first five minutes of the second half as the Bucks extended their lead to 21 points. The Hawks gained some steam after a surge that included five quick points from veteran guard Wesley Matthews, but their momentum was stifled after Antetokounmpo threw down two more powerful dunks which brought his personal point total to 31. The Hawks continued to trail behind the Bucks 89-74 at the end of the third quarter.

However, the Hawks revived their scoring ways in the fourth quarter. Bogdanović erupted for 17 points in this quarter, and center Bruno Fernando chipped in an energetic eight points off the bench. Forward De’Andre Hunter and Bogdanovic hit back-to-back three-pointers to cut the Bucks’ lead to five points.

Fernando said that his late-game boost came after Matthews urged him to pick up his intensity at halftime to provide a spark for the team.

“He came into the locker room at halftime and he told me how flat I was, how I needed to step up and pick up my energy and intensity to be able to have the team feed off that,” Fernando said. “That’s exactly what I came out and did.”

But once again, the Bucks had an answer. Middleton and center Brook Lopez hit a pair of threes to curb the Hawks’ momentum, and the Bucks never looked back. When the final buzzer sounded, the Bucks defeated the Hawks 122-113.

Despite the loss, the Hawks put on a great display of effort in the second half. Snyder said his team’s ability to keep the game close while being undersized showed their determination, especially in the final quarter.

“To get to the point where we were down five out of that one time out, in a lot of ways that was big,” Snyder said. “It would have been easy to capitulate when you’re looking at 7-foot, 7-[foot]-2, 6-[foot]-9. That’s a big team and we battled.”

Murray echoed this sentiment and said that the loss did not take away from the team’s confidence in themselves.

“We believe in ourselves,” Murray said. “We just gotta take it one game at a time. You’re not gonna win every game, you’re not gonna lose every game. You can take these as lessons more than losses and just get better.”