Dishing Dyson leads Hawks over the Bucks

• Dyson Daniels records a double-double to lead the Hawks to a 115-110 win over Milwaukee
• 10 assists was Daniels' career-high, beating his previous best of nine assists in 2022
• Josh Green missed Charlotte's buzzer-beating win over the Spurs with a calf injury

No De’Andre Hunter, no worries for the Atlanta Hawks after a career-high in assists and a double-double from Dyson Daniels helped lead his team to a 115-110 win over Damian Lillard and the Milwaukee Bucks.

Shorthanded after dealing Hunter to the Cleveland Cavaliers before the trade deadline, and without Caris LeVert and Georges Niang who moved to Atlanta in the deal, the Hawks fought off the Bucks thanks to Daniels, who starred with 15 points, 10 assists and six rebounds.

With defence Daniels’ usual trademark, as he leads the NBA in steals per game, the Bendigo product tore apart Milwaukee on the offensive end with his 10 assists beating his previous career high of nine with the New Orleans Pelicans against the Toronto Raptors in November, 2022.

The Boomers star was the only member of the Hawks starting five to record a positive plus/minus as they overcame a near triple-double from Lillard (23 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds) as well as a monster night from Bobby Portis (26 points, 15 rebounds and six assists) to record a five-point victory.

Milwaukee were without two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, who missed his third straight game with left calf soreness.

Potential future Boomers coach Quinn Snyder and the Hawks raced out to a 36-26 lead after the first quarter before Milwaukee dominated the second 47-19 to end the first half with an 18-point advantage.

But whatever message Snyder delivered at half-time worked as the home team responded with a 37-17 quarter of their own to take back the lead, which they increased in the final 12 minutes.

It was a much-needed result for Atlanta, who have won just two of their past 10 games, but remain in the play-in picture in ninth place in the Eastern Conference.

San Antonio Spurs @ Charlotte Hornets

Boomers and Hornets guard Josh Green missed the meeting with Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs with a calf injury but that didn’t stop Charlotte from recording an upset win over San Antonio.

The Spurs led by two points in the dying stages before LaMelo Ball found Miles Bridges for a game-winning three from the corner –which of course led to absolute craziness from the Hornets commentators.

Rookie Stephon Castle led San Antonio with 33 points while Bridges (25 points) and Ball (24 points) were the standouts from the Hornets.

Toronto Raptors @ Oklahoma City Thunder

Australian big man Alex Ducas hit the court for some rare minutes for the Thunder as Oklahoma City took care of the Toronto Raptors 121-109 at home.

Ducas played four minutes and grabbed one rebound for the Thunder, who were led by All-Star duo Jalen Williams with 27 points and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander with 25 points.

Oklahoma City sit 6.5 games clear of the Memphis Grizzlies for first place in the Western Conference.

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