THE Milwaukee Bucks earned a 123-112 home win over Atlanta Hawks to take a 3-2 lead in their best-of-seven NBA Eastern Conference final.
The Bucks were missing star player Giannis Antetokounmpo because of a knee injury but four of their five starters scored at least 22 points.
Brook Lopez scored a season-high 33 points to help Milwaukee move one win away from the NBA Finals.

“I thought we just did a great job of playing together,” said Lopez.
The Bucks were also helped by Khris Middleton securing 26 points 13 rebounds eight assists, while Jrue Holiday added 25 points 13 assists.
“Khris, Jrue did their normal job of making plays for everyone,” added Lopez.

“When everyone is scoring, everyone is doing his thing, that’s tough for a defence. It’s tough for them to make a decision and a commitment.”
Atlanta, missing key player Trae Young with a foot injury, went 30-10 behind early on and, despite reducing the deficit to 65-59, saw Bucks pull away for victory.
Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 28 points for Hawks, while John Collins and Danilo Gallinari added 19 points each.

“They were more physical. They hit us in the mouth and we just did not recover from that,” said Hawks coach Nate McMillan.
Game six of the series is in Atlanta today at 01:30 BST. One more win will see Bucks secure a place in the NBA Finals, where they would meet the Phoenix Suns. (BBC Sport)