Young scores 42 points, Hawks beat Bucks to snap 6-game skid

ATLANTA (AP) — Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks have struggled under the weight of increased expectations.

Finally, they looked like the team that made a surprising playoff run last season.

Young scored a season-best 42 points and the Atlanta Hawks snapped a six-game losing streak, beating the Milwaukee Bucks 120-100 on Sunday night in a rematch of struggling teams that met in the Eastern Conference final.

Young just missed a triple-double, finishing with 10 assists and eight rebounds to push the Hawks to a much-needed victory.

Young was 8 of 13 from beyond the 3-point stripe, and easily surpassed his previous season high of 32 points in an Oct. 25 victory over Detroit.

“We all know where want to be at,” Young said. “We know we've got to turn it around and get some wins.”

Despite the return of two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, the reigning NBA champion Bucks lost for the seventh time in 10 games.

The Hawks were scuffling even more after their surprising playoff run, which took them all the way to the conference final before they lost to the Bucks in six games.

Atlanta came into Sunday's game having lost eight of nine, dropping five games below .500 and near the bottom of the conference standings.

Coach Nate McMillan conceded that his team is still adapting to its new role within the NBA hierarchy.

“That's something these guys are going through for the first time,” he said. "Guys are learning what it's like when expectations are a little higher."

Antetokounmpo scored 26 points in his return to the lineup after missing Milwaukee's previous game with a sprained right ankle.

“I felt good," Antetokounmpo said. "The ankle did not hurt as much as I expected.”

But the Bucks never figured out a way to slow Young and the...

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