Atlanta Hawks drop home contest to Milwaukee Bucks, 107-77 (12/26/14)

By E. Marcel Pourtout, Editor

The Atlanta Hawks dropped their first home game in nine contests in a 107-77 defeat to the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night at Philips Arena.

The loss snapped the Hawks’ five-game winning streak overall and only the second loss in their last 16 contests.

“I think you have to give Milwaukee a lot of credit,” Atlanta head coach Mike Budenholzer said. “They (Bucks) played really well tonight and did a lot of things. We have to do things better defensively to make it harder for them on offense. We obviously didn’t have a good night for us offensively.”

Milwaukee’s Jared Dudley had a game-high 24 points in the win, going a perfect 10-10 from the field with four three-pointers. He’s the first player in NBA history to make at least 10 field goal attempts with at least four three pointers without a miss in a contest.

Brandon Knight scored 16 for the Bucks while Zaza Pachulia grabbed a team-high eight rebounds with 14 points. Overall, Milwaukee shot 50.6 percent from the field, making eight of 19 three-pointers. THe Bucks were also at the free-throw stripe, converting 19 of 23 attempts.

Paul Millsap scored a team-high 22 points for the Hawks along with 11 points for a double-double. Al Horford (13 points) and Jeff Teague (12 points) also scored in double-figures in the loss. Atlanta shot 40.8 percent from the field, making only four of 23 three-pointer attempts. The Hawks had 22 turnovers.

“I think that’s a credit to their (Bucks) defense, particularly the turnovers and the poor shooting percentage” Budenholzer said. We’re going to have to take care of the ball better, be more aggressive and stronger.”

A three-pointer by Knight with 7:08 left in the third quarter gave the Bucks their biggest lead of the game at the point at 21 points, making the score 71-50. Milwaukee continued its control of the contest, taking an 81-58 lead into the fourth quarter.

The Bucks, who’s largest lead in the game was 32 points, outscored the Hawks 26-19 in the fourth quarter to close the game out.

“I thought our effort and energy, make or miss, was at a high level,” Bucks’ head coach Jason Kidd said. “That’s just the way we play. Our guys stepped up for one another and they played well.”

“They played a really good game,” Hawks’ guard Kyle Korver said. “They put a bunch of different lineups out there and switched up a lot of things. We just couldn’t find any rhythm against them.”

Milwaukee went on a 10-4 run to end the first quarter to take a 24-22 lead heading into the second quarter. The Hawks were 1-8 on three-pointer attempts in the first quarter.

The Bucks outscored the Hawks 34-20 in the second quarter to take a 58-42 lead into halftime.

Millsap had a game-high 18 points in the first-half, making all eight of this field goal attempts for Atlanta. He also grabbed six rebounds. Overall, the Hawks shot 45 percent from the field in the first half, only making two out of 14 three-pointer attempts.

Milwaukee was led by a team-high 15 points from Dudley off the bench in the first half. Jerryd Bayless had 10 points for the Bucks as well. The Bucks shot 50 percent in the first half and made six three-pointers. The Bucks’ bench outscored the Hawks 32-7 in the first half as well.