In what should be the natural order of things, the Hawks did what prospective playoff teams are supposed to do Wednesday, stepping on an opponent that sits below them on the NBA food chain.

If this qualified as normalcy, having the public-address announcer pitch playoff tickets during the game might not seem so presumptuous. Unfortunately, this team and this season are trend-less.

"We've got 11 more one-game playoffs," Joe Johnson said, and then he gave a little laugh when asked if he had his team figured out yet.

One night after doing a faceplant in Chicago, the Hawks drifted through the first quarter against a Milwaukee team that has been traveling roadkill all season (now 6-29 on the road). The Bucks scored 37 points. It was as if the Hawks believed they were pre-ordained to make the playoffs, which is odd considering that hasn't happened in nine years and several thumbs ago.

That Atlanta rebounded from potential humiliation to win 115-96 at least says something about the team's resolve (for one night). But Johnson, who in a gutty performance followed 48 minutes in Chicago with 28 points in 40 minutes Wednesday, wasn't in a celebrating mood.

"I'm happy we won," he said. "But I just thought the effort wasn't really there [early] tonight, whether we were playing back-to-back or not. We didn't know our defensive coverages.

"It's up to us as players to not let that happen. When we come out and give a lack of effort like we did in the first quarter, we're hurting ourselves. We've got to look at where we are in the standings."

Almost forgotten, or ignored by team officials, was its was coach Mike Woodson's 100th win. It only took four years.

This is the strangest of playoff races. There is no guarantee that either Woodson or general manager Billy Knight will be back next season. The Hawks have some talent, but the team still too often lacks chemistry and, as Johnson and others have noted, effort.

It's certainly debatable whether the Hawks have converted many believers. The crowd at Philips Arena was announced as 14,832. A survey of the stands would indicate only 6,000 of that number had an actual body.

If the Hawks have any desires to take this playoff run seriously and pick up some fans in the process, this would be a really good time to wake up.

"You've got to win all of these games," said guard Mike Bibby, who played on five playoff teams with Sacramento. "You at least have to beat the teams that are behind you. Chicago's behind us. New Jersey's behind us. We could've gotten two games right there. If you win games like that, maybe you can end their season early and give [our] guys some rest."

They just haven't been the type to make it easy on themselves.

The other night, they led New Jersey by 10 points at halftime, then were outscored 34-20 in the third quarter and lost. They led at Chicago 53-51 on Tuesday night, then were outscored in the third 28-14 and lost again.

After the Bulls game, Johnson said, "We came out lackadaisical."

How does that happen in a playoff race?

Conventional wisdom was that the Bibby trade would, if not turn the Hawks into a title threat, at least make them a solid playoff team. The team is only 9-12 since the trade, not counting the do-over victory over Miami.

"When we play together on defense, like I know we can, we're real tough to beat," Bibby said. "But we have to have that concept of helping each other."

It's not a difficult concept. But when players seem to float in and out of consciousness at a time when focus should be the last problem, it's clear the issues go deeper than that.

"We've got to stop having mental lapses," Bibby said.

That would be a start.

Until then, we'll keep guessing what comes next.

jschultz@ajc.com