Mar 30, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Jeff Teague (0) passes to a teammate as he is defended by Milwaukee Bucks center Zaza Pachulia (27) and guard Michael Carter-Williams (5) in the third quarter of their game at Philips Arena. The Hawks won 101-88. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports
The road woes continue for the Milwaukee Bucks–losers of eleven straight road games. Despite the Bucks best efforts to remain competitive, the Atlanta Hawks, led by 23 from DeMarre Carroll and 18 from Al Horford cruised by the Bucks in a relatively effortless fashion winning 101-88.
There are moments in basketball where no matter what you try, what schemes you employ, or the personnel you have–there is just no stopping a certain player. For 65 seconds that player was Kyle Korver–sharpshooter and game breaking extraordinaire. In just over a minute Korver laced up a perfect 4-4 shooting (3-3 from three), good for 11 points, and turned a competitive 56-51 Hawks advantage into a 67-51 demolition.
To the Bucks’ credit they battled back, whittling the Hawks’ lead down to just eight by the end of the third quarter; but a 3:23 second fourth quarter Bucks scoring drought saw the Hawks claim a thirteen point advantage, 77-64, with just 8:37 remaining.
Any subsequent Bucks effort to draw within striking distance was shut down by Jeff Teague (9 assists) and the awesomely efficient Atlanta Hawks offense.
The Bucks enjoyed another strong performance from Giannis Antetokounmpo who scored 18 points to go with 6 rebounds and 4 assists. The young star shot 7-9 from the field including 6-7 (!!) on jumpers. Perhaps the Atlanta home crowd forgot about his stellar month of March as they taunted Giannis with “overrated” chants during his fourth quarter free throws.
The focused 20-year-old hit all four of his free throws.
With the loss the Bucks continue to lose their grip on the Eastern Conferences sixth seed. They fell to 36-38, have just a 1.5 game lead over the Miami Heat and a 3 game lead over the Boston Celtics. Fortunately the Bucks play just two more teams with winning records in the schedule’s final eight games.
Things will start looking up very soon for the Bucks, but for now it’s just another road loss to another good team–check out our Milwaukee Bucks grades and reactions from Monday’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks.