ATLANTA — Brandon Jennings scored 25 points, Kurt Thomas drew a crucial charging foul against Joe Johnson, and the Bucks stunned the Hawks with a 14-0 run late in the game, beating Atlanta 91-87 on Wednesday night for a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Milwaukee, appearing in the playoffs for the first time since 2006, responded like the seasoned postseason team after getting blown out in the first two games. The third-seeded Hawks, planning for a long run in their third straight playoff appearance, better figure out a way to win on the road. Game 6 is Friday night in Milwaukee.
“The pressure’s not on us,” Jennings said.
Bucks center Andrew Bogut is watching the playoffs with a cast on his right hand after taking a gruesome fall late in the regular season, but the 20-year-old Jennings keeps stepping up big with darting moves to the hoop and timely jumpers. The rookie scored 12 straight points early and clinched the victory with two free throws.
Joining him in a duo for the ages is the 37-year-old Thomas, one of the league’s oldest players. Bogut’s replacement doesn’t show up much on the stat sheet — he took only one shot and failed to score — but he came up with perhaps the biggest play of the game when he stepped out to take a charge from Johnson with 2:15 remaining, the Atlanta star’s sixth foul.
“I thought when Joe Johnson came out of the game,” Jennings said, “we had a chance to win it.”
The Hawks appeared to be in control, leading 82-73 after Josh Smith’s long jumper with 4:10 remaining. Milwaukee scored the next 14 points while Atlanta was missing seven straight shots. Even though Al Horford finally broke the drought with 19 seconds remaining, then banked in a 3-pointer from the top of the key to finish with 25 points and 11 rebounds, it wasn’t enough to make up for a total collapse.
“This is incredible,” said Jamal Crawford, who went 4-of-18 for 11 points a day after winning the NBA’s sixth-man award. “We had the game won. It just slipped away from us.”
Crawford’s night ended in appropriate fashion — a desperation 3-pointer that missed badly and left him sprawled on the court.
