Milwaukee Bucks: 3 takeaways from season series against Atlanta Hawks

The battle of the boards was key in the Milwaukee Bucks’ meetings with the Hawks

The Bucks and the Hawks go into their Conference Finals series as one of the most dominant rebounding teams in the league this season. And that dominance certainly was seen in the three matchups held during the regular season.

In the Bucks’ 129-115 win over the Hawks back in January, the Bucks outrebounded the Hawks 52-34, including pulling down 16 offensive rebounds, and limited Atlanta a season-low 2 second chance points, per NBA.com/stats. There was no question that the Hawks had a Clint Capela-sized hole that they struggled to overcome in that meeting.

The subsequent pair of meetings, though, between the Bucks and Hawks didn’t hold the edge in the Bucks’ favor.

In fact, Atlanta’s lone win against Milwaukee this season, which turned out to be a 111-104 win back on April 15, saw the Hawks keep the Bucks off the glass as Milwaukee logged their lowest offensive rebounding percentage (8.9) on the season. As we’ve seen throughout this playoff run, the Bucks have relied generated offensive boards and second chance opportunities and that loomed large in their big Game 7 win over the Nets where they scored 24 second chance points on 18 offensive rebounds.

The size, strength and tenacity both teams show in tracking misses from the opposition will surely be primary theme in how this series shakes out for either side.