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ATLANTA -- Paul Millsap was proud of how well the Atlanta Hawks adjusted with Dwight Howard and Thabo Sefolosha unable to play because of injuries.We have a deep team, he said. It says a lot about our bench and what they bring, that they came in and did a great job and really set the tone for us, especially in the second quarter.Millsap scored 21 points, Mike Muscala added 16 and the Hawks won their sixth straight game, a 107-100 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night.Giannis Antetokounmpo had 26 points and 15 rebounds, and Jabari Parker scored 15 of his 23 points in the third quarter for Milwaukee.Muscala started in place of Howard, who was sidelined with a left quadriceps contusion. The Hawks improved to 6-1 at home and tied Cleveland for the best record in the Eastern Conference at 9-2.Atlantas bench, led by 13 points from Tim Hardaway Jr., outscored the Bucks 35-25.The defense was amazing, Millsap said. The second group came in and moved the basketball. We played how were supposed to play.The Bucks, who have lost three of four, pulled within four points on Antetokounmpos dunk with 37 seconds remaining, but Millsap hit a layup on the next possession to make it 104-98.Milwaukee ended the first quarter with a 26-21 lead but missed their next 11 shots and didnt score until the 5:50 mark of the second. They were outscored 31-9 in the period and went 3 for 27 from the field.Atlanta took its biggest lead at 24 points on Dennis Schroders 3-pointer early in the third, but Milwaukee scored 35 points in the third quarter and pulled within six with 9:06 remaining on Mirza Teletovics third 3 of the period.It was definitely a character game for a young team to come back and put themselves in that position on the road, Bucks coach Jason Kidd said. With 4 minutes left, it was anybodys ballgame. Again, tip your hat to Atlanta. They made the shots and got the stops when they had to.Antetokounmpos layup cut the lead to three a couple of possessions later at the 6:24 mark. That was as close as the Bucks could get.Our backs were on the wall, so we had no other choice but to be aggressive if we wanted to try to make it close, Parker said. Those are still good habits to have leading into the next game. But we know from our mistakes that we cant play the first half like we did.The Hawks improved to 8-1 when leading after three quarters.Schroder and Kent Bazemore scored 12 points each for Atlanta.NEED THE RESTHoward was injured in the third quarter Tuesday at Miami, banging knees with Heat center Hassan Whiteside. He did not return and was unable to watch Wednesdays game from the bench.Howard, the active career NBA leader in double-doubles, is averaging 14.8 points and 12.3 rebounds. The eight-time All-Star in his first season with Atlanta.Sefolosha, a reserve forward and the teams best defender, did not play because of a strained right hamstring.His and Howards absence helped the Bucks outscore Atlanta 50-28 in the paint.SHOWING POTENTIALDuring a 6-minute stretch of Atlantas 19-0 run in the second, rookie forward Taurean Prince was the catalyst. He blocked two shots, drew a foul, made two free throws, had three rebounds, a steal and a hard baseline dunk.Prince, the NBAs No. 12 overall draft pick out of Baylor, finished with eight points and five rebounds in a career-high 19 minutes.I thought Taurean was great, Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said. Just the physicality he plays with, the aggressiveness he plays with, he really gave us a big boost on both ends of the floor.UP NEXTBucks: Visit Miami on Thursday.Hawks: Visit Charlotte on Friday. . In Europe, top teams seem to be largely happy with their squads after spending nearly $1 billion in the off-season. And although English league clubs are unlikely to splash cash in January, Arsenal and Chelsea could be tempted to strengthen their squads with new strikers. . Thousands of fans at Mosaic Stadium will be cozying up to each other in an effort to stay warm in chilly temperatures and block the Prairie wind that locals say can knock your socks off. . It was Kerbers third final of the year after losing to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia in Monterrey in April and to Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic in Tokyo two weeks ago. The 10th-ranked German improved her record in finals to 3-5. . The Barrie Colts defenceman, who impressed many with his play for Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championship, is the top-ranked skater in the February rankings. He has 19 goals and 24 assists for 43 points in 45 games with the Colts this season. . "I wrote 36 on my sheet at the beginning of the game," the Cincinnati coach said, referring the yard line the ball would need to be snapped from. HOUSTON -- Will Fuller had a tiebreaking 67-yard punt return for a touchdown and the Houston Texans earned a 27-20 win over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday in their first game without J.J. Watt.It was the first time Houston (3-1) had played without its star defensive end since the 2010 season after Watt , who is out for the season after back surgery, had started 83 straight games since being drafted in 2011.Fuller also had 81 yards receiving and a touchdown.Tennessee (1-3) was driving with less than two minutes remaining, but Marcus Mariotas pass to former Texan Andre Johnson on fourth down was broken up to secure the victory.The Texans squandered an early 14-point lead and their offense was struggling in the second half when Fuller took the first return of his career for a touchdown to make it 27-20 late in the third quarter.Fuller, who ran a 4.32 40-yard dash at the combine, took the punt and quickly made a trio of Titans miss before outrunning everyone else down the sideline for the score.The 21st overall pick in this years draft was so far ahead of any defenders that he slowed down Usain Bolt-style near the 5-yard line and trotted into the end zone.It was Houstons first punt return for a touchdown since 2013 and hhe became the first player in franchise history to have a TD reception and a punt return for a score in the same game.dddddddddddd Fullers 5-yard touchdown reception made it 14-0 in the first.Fullers return came after Jadeveon Clowney led a defensive stand following Brock Osweilers second interception of the game.Clowney, the top overall pick in 2014, sacked Mariota for a 6-yard loss on first down and chased down Delanie Walker after a reception on third down to force a punt.The Texans raced out to a 14-0 lead after touchdown passes by Osweiler on their first two possessions.The teams exchanged field goals before two touchdown runs by DeMarco Murray tied it at 17-17. But the Texans added a field goal to lead 20-17 at halftime. It was the first time since 2013 against the Raiders that Murray had two rushing touchdowns before halftime.CUSHING RETURNS: Houston middle linebacker Brian Cushing returned after sitting out the past two games after injuring his knee in the season opener. He finished with four tackles.UP NEXTTitans : Visit the Dolphins on Sunday.Texans : Visit the Vikings on Sunday. ' ' 'rd in his first at-bat in his finale. ' ' '
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