Milwaukee Bucks Grades and Reactions in 97-86 Loss To Atlanta Hawks
Feb 22, 2015; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Kent Bazemore (24) dunks a basket against Milwaukee Bucks center Zaza Pachulia (27) in the fourth quarter at BMO Harris Bradley Center. The Hawks beat the Bucks 97-86. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Despite a strong third quarter that saw the Milwaukee Bucks climb their way out of a thirteen point hole, Kyle Korver and the Atlanta Hawks used a three point shooting barrage to pull away from the feisty Bucks to win 97-86.
Playing in their first Sunday afternoon game of the season the Bucks started the first quarter with sluggish, turnover-laden play. The Bucks committed four turnovers in the first four minutes of the game, but were able to keep pace with the Hawks until a seven minute scoring drought saw the Hawks take a 20-9 late first quarter lead.
The second quarter brought more of the same from the teams, as Milwaukee remained within striking distance, but never able to catch the fire of momentum needed to climb back into the game. That spark would come in the third quarter.
Led by eleven third quarter points from Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Bucks used increased defensive pressure (nine forced turnovers) to tie the Hawks at 64 each. But the Hawks closed the third quarter with a crowd-silencing jumper from Mike Scott and never relinquished the lead.
Kyle Korver opened the fourth quarter with a three-pointer, making two more in the next two minutes to take a 79-68 lead while the Buck’s offense struggled to find consistency.
It looked like much of the rhythm the Bucks offense has carried the past month was absent the entire game, but for an eight minute third quarter stretch. That’s not to say that we should lay the blame on Tyler Ennis–he is after all playing in just his tenth career NBA game. The Bucks scoring woes had as much to do with the Hawk’s own excellent defense as the Bucks inability to score.
Atlanta forced 24 turnovers, equating to one every two minutes. Against a top-level team like the Hawks there’s no way you can turn it over 24 times and hope to win. Credit the Bucks with hanging around and making it interesting–but with only one guard with real NBA experience available the Bucks struggles were apparent. Look for that to improve when Carter-Williams becomes available and the team gains some experience playing together.
For now the immediate takeaway is that this isn’t a game to hang your head over. The Bucks were able to threaten the Eastern Conference’s best team before succumbing to depth issues and inexperience. We will explore those two areas for improvement along with offering positive and negative reactions and Milwaukee Bucks grades.
Next: Reactions: The Good