Hawks @ Bucks Game 5 Prediction: Back Hawks depth over Bucks without Giannis

With no Giannis, will Bucks be able to find scoring options...?

The series between the Atlanta Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks has been rather saddening.

We were all excited to continue to watch Trae Young put the team on his back and possibly lead the Hawks to yet another upset to reach the NBA Finals. On the flip side, this looked like Milwaukee’s best opportunity to win a title after eliminating the Brooklyn Nets.

Giannis Antetokounmpo was already a superstar after taking home two Most Valuable Player awards, while Trae Young is still on the up and up. Not to say people didn’t know who Young was, but it’s the first time in his young career that his play has been translating to wins.

But then, in Game 3, Young suffered a fluke injury by landing on the referee and injured his ankle. Against all odds, the Hawks stepped up at home in Game 4 without their leader and beat the Bucks by 22.

After playing just 24 minutes, Giannis hyperextended his knee and looked like Atlanta’s Clint Capela injured his ankle on the same play.

Giannis has already been ruled out for Game 5, while Capela and Young Remain questionable.

Oddsmakers currently have the Bucks as a 3-point favorite at home tonight with pivotal Hawks players still in question.

Even in the loss, it was good to see Jrue Holiday get back on track with 19 points, but also disturbing watching Khris Middleton have a poor shooting night on the road, going 0-for-7 from three.

Meanwhile, it was nice to see Atlanta’s Bogdan Bodganovic get back on track with a 20-point outing in which he shot 6-for-14 from three.

Above all else though, the Hawks won this game because Lou Williams stepped up and had quite an efficient outing. While usually a volume scorer, he finished the night with 21 points on 7-for-9 shooting, including 2-for-3 from deep. He also wasn’t afraid to take it to the basket, as he finished with the most free-throw attempts of any member of the Hawks.

Milwaukee has been really good at home, and it seems they’re allowed to play a more physical brand of defense than when they’re the visiting team.

That being said, I just don’t know where Milwaukee’s scoring is going to come from. They’re not particularly deep as it is. Now they’re missing more than 25 a game from Giannis, plus Middleton’s hot-and-cold shooting nights might make points hard to come by for Milwaukee.

The Hawks proved in the last game they have more than enough scoring options to beat you on any given night. I’ll be monitoring Atlanta’s injuries closely up until tip off, but as of right now, I like Hawks +3.

For our prop of the night, I’m going Brook Lopez over 1.5 threes. They’re going to need to find a way to make up for Giannis’ scoring, and that will have to come from multiple players, not one guy, so I foresee an uptick in attempts for Lopez tonight.