Milwaukee Bucks set to rehash playoff history with Atlanta Hawks

Atlanta Hawks get past Milwaukee Bucks in 1st round of 2010 NBA Playoffs

It took 21 years for the Bucks and Hawks to meet in the playoffs once again and in keeping with the theme of their meetings, they met against one another in the 2010 NBA Playoffs.

The Hawks held home court as the third seed and putting together a 53-29 record, Meanwhile, the Bucks rode a second half surge to grab the sixth seed with a 46-36 record. However, they entered the series down their All-NBA-caliber center in Andrew Bogut, who horrifically broken his arm in three places two weeks before the start of the postseason.

Despite a 34-point performance from Bucks rookie guard Brandon Jennings, the Hawks took Game 1 with ease in what ended up being a 102-92 win at the Philips Center. Atlanta followed that up with a similarly comfortable 96-86 win in Game 2. With the Hawks holding a 2-0 lead as the series went to Milwaukee, the Bucks managed to put the series on its head.

Game 3 saw the Bucks get on the board with a 107-89 win that was all Milwaukee from the second minutes onwards. Game 4 proved to be much more of a battle, but it was one that the Bucks were able to fend off the Hawks in a 111-104 win at the Bradley Center.

With the series tied 2-2 and going back to Atlanta, the Bucks delivered their biggest punch of all on the Hawks in Game 5 with a 91-87 win. A hotly contested game almost grew out of control for the Bucks as they spent most of the second half chasing the Hawks. That was a late fourth quarter breakthrough for the Bucks that was capped off by a big corner three from Carlos Delfino with 1:16 to go in the fourth quarter that effectively propelled the Bucks to a 3-2 lead over the Hawks.

Hosting Game 6 on their home floor, the Bucks had a chance to finish off the Hawks and continue writing their improbable run to that year’s Conference Semifinals. Atlanta, though, had other plans as they took an absolutely grimy 83-69 victory to force the series back to Atlanta to set up the do-or-die Game 7.

Going back to Atlanta proved to be the end of the line for the Bucks as they simply couldn’t keep up with the Hawks and dropped Game 7 in a 95-74 loss. The Hawks moved on to the next round only to get swept by the Orlando Magic.

Now more than 11 years later, the Bucks and Hawks meet against one another to determine who comes out of the East this season. It’s safe to say the stakes are high going into this Conference Finals series.