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Milwaukee Bucks Game Preview: Jan. 15 at Atlanta Hawks

By Ti Windisch

Dec 9, 2016; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Jabari Parker (12) steals the ball from Atlanta Hawks forward Mike Muscala (31) in the second quarter at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 9, 2016; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Jabari Parker (12) steals the ball from Atlanta Hawks forward Mike Muscala (31) in the second quarter at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports /
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Apr 28, 2016; Boston, MA, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward Kent Bazemore (24) celebrates a victory against the Boston Celtics in game six of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 28, 2016; Boston, MA, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward Kent Bazemore (24) celebrates a victory against the Boston Celtics in game six of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports /

Major Key For Atlanta: Make Some Threes

One of the many weird aspects about the Hawks this season is that they suddenly can’t shoot threes anymore. Atlanta is 25th in the NBA in three-point percentage, and clearly feeling the losses of Jeff Teague, Al Horford and now Kyle Korver.

The biggest pain in the Hawks side might be Kent Bazemore. Bazemore was a distant splash cousin last season, but now he’s been once-removed. Bazemore is shooting just 29.7 percent from three-point range this season.

He’s also only making 40 percent of his two-point attempts, tied for the worst mark in his career with his rookie season. Bazemore shot 35.7 percent from deep and 50.2 percent from two-point range last season, for the sake of comparison.

The loss of Teague and Horford took a lot of space away from Bazemore, and that’s affected him negatively. Dwight Howard is great at what he does, but teams are not worried about accounting for him when he’s not in the paint.

Horford spaced the floor for Atlanta, and gave them the ability to have five shooters on the floor at all times without sacrificing much defensively. The Hawks can sort of do that still with Mike Muscala, although it’s much rarer in Atlanta now that Howard is the man in the middle.

Shooting triples is important, even to these poor-shooting Hawks. Atlanta is 8-0 when the team shoots 40 percent or more from three, meaning the arc will be important for the Bucks to cover on Sunday.

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