CJ McCollum scored 30 points and made seven 3-pointers to help the red-hot Atlanta Hawks extend their winning streak to nine games with a 122-99 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday.

Jalen Johnson added 23 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds for his ninth triple-double of the season as Atlanta won nine in a row for the first time since a 19-game stretch in the 2014-15 season.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 20 points, followed by Corey Kispert’s 13 and Jock Landale’s 10.

Ryan Rollins had 22 points and eight assists for the Bucks, who dropped their eighth game in nine tries. Kevin Porter Jr. contributed 18 points, seven assists and seven rebounds, while Bobby Portis finished with 14 points and Kyle Kuzma chipped in 11.

After holding an eight-point halftime lead, Atlanta stretched the margin to 14 on McCollum’s three straight 3-pointers to give the Hawks a 73-59 advantage with 8:04 left in the third.

Portis’ 3-pointer narrowed the gap to 82-70 with 3:55 remaining in the third, before Gabe Vincent’s 3-pointer and Alexander-Walker’s steal and layup helped the Hawks take a 95-78 lead heading into the final quarter.

Atlanta’s edge ballooned to 20 on McCollum’s 3-pointer to open the fourth. Porter scored the first eight points of the quarter for Milwaukee, cutting the visitors’ deficit to 16 with 7:32 remaining.

Rollins’ 3-pointer got the margin down to 13, but McCollum’s consecutive 3-pointers were part of Atlanta’s 14-1 game-sealing run to give the Hawks a 118-92 lead, forcing Milwaukee to unload its reserves with 3:33 left.

Atlanta jumped out to an early nine-point edge, before Rollins’ consecutive 3-pointers began an 11-0 run to give the Bucks a 19-17 lead. Porter’s layup in the final seconds of the first quarter pulled the visitors within a point.

The Hawks pushed the lead back to nine after Alexander-Walker’s triple gave the Hawks a 48-39 advantage with 6:06 left in the opening half.

Johnson’s mid-range jumper gave the Hawks their first double-digit lead at 54-43. Led by Johnson and Alexander-Walker’s 13 first-half points apiece, Atlanta held a 60-52 edge at halftime. Rollins’ 15 paced the Bucks.

–Field Level Media

LAS VEGAS — With a blistering lap of 187.156 mph in Saturday’s time trials at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Christopher Bell claimed the pole position for Sunday’s Pennzoil 400.

Bell navigated the 1.5-mile intermediate track in 28.853 seconds to beat Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin (186.188 mph) for the top starting spot by 0.150 seconds.

The Busch Light pole award was Bell’s first of the season, his fourth at Las Vegas, and the 15th of his career.

With JGR’s Ty Gibbs qualifying third at 185.803 mph and 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace fourth at 185.771 mph, Toyota swept the top four starting spots in a race for the seventh time in the manufacturer’s history in the NASCAR Cup Series, with the most recent occurrence coming at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last year.

This was the second straight Las Vegas race in which Toyotas have started 1-2-3, with Hamlin, Chase Briscoe and Bell doing the honors in qualifying last fall.

“It was pretty simple, really,” Bell said of his qualifying lap. “It takes a lot of commitment here at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to qualify well. My team got their Ps and Qs right. We had a lot of grip, and I held my foot down, and we won the pole.”

Bell’s car seemed unbothered by the troublesome Turn 1 bumps that upset the efforts of several other competitors.

“It’s a compromise,” Bell said. “Every time you come to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, it’s a compromise of getting your car to have as much grip as you can have in (Turns) 3 and 4 without the bump hindering you in (Turns) 1 and 2.

“Anytime you make the car drive better across the bumps, you’re giving up performance on the smooth part of the race track, and my team nailed it.”

Reigning series champion Kyle Larson (185.54 8mph) qualified fifth in the fastest Chevrolet, with Phoenix winner Ryan Blaney (185.185 mph) claiming the sixth spot on the grid in the top Ford.

Series leader Tyler Reddick, winner of the first three races this season, will start seventh, followed by Ryan Preece, William Byron and Chris Buescher.

Defending race winner Josh Berry qualified 32nd in the Wood Brothers Racing Ford.

Note: The last seven times Bell has won a NASCAR Cup Series pole, he has finished the race in the top 10. His last two Las Vegas poles (2023 and 2024) have resulted in second-place finishes.

–By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service, Special to Field Level Media

Emmanuel Latte Lath, Tomas Jacob and Alexey Miranchuk had a goal apiece — with Miguel Almiron assisting on all three — as Atlanta United picked up its first win of the season in a 3-1 victory over the visiting Philadelphia Union on Saturday afternoon.

Atlanta’s win was its first since a 1-0 road defeat of Nashville SC on Aug. 30, 2025. It also snapped a five-match winless streak (0-3-2) against the Union.

Philadelphia (0-4-0, 0 points) remained without a win while suffering its third straight loss across all competitions.

Atlanta (1-3-0, 3 points) opened the scoring in the 28th minute. Almiron slipped a ball ahead to Latte Lath, who raced into the scoring area. With Union goalkeeper Andre Blake pulled off his line, Latte Lath easily finished into the back of the net for his first goal of the season.

The Union were awarded a penalty late in the first half after Elias Baez was ruled to have committed a foul in the box, but Milan Iloski’s attempt from the spot struck the left post.

That allowed Atlanta to double its lead in the 47th minute. Almiron’s pass from the left-hand side was laid off by Latte Lath, leaving Jacob plenty of space and time to score his first MLS goal for a 2-0 lead.

Miranchuk made it a 3-0 advantage in the 68th minute, scoring his third goal in two matches.

Agustin Anello had the Union’s lone goal in the 87th minute, his first in MLS.

Lucas Hoyos turned aside two of Philadelphia’s three shots on target. Blake had a pair of saves for the Union.

Atlanta’s win was its first at home in an MLS match since beating Orlando City 3-2 on May 28, 2025. It also defeated the Union for the first time since July 2, 2023.

–Field Level Media