The Hawks couldn’t ride the wave of their four-game win streak as the Bucks overpowered them on Saturday night. They fell 122-113 in the finale of their five-game homestand.
Here are five observations:
1. Despite having the hotter hand from distance, the Hawks couldn’t shoot their way to another win. The Hawks made six more 3s than the Bucks, making 14-of-35 shots from deep to continue their recent streak of hot shooting.
But the Bucks outmuscled the Hawks, who have played five games in the last eight days.
Led by Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Bucks pounded the Hawks in the paint, especially after getting out in transition. The Bucks scored plus-four points per 100 transition plays that came off live rebounds and made 21-of-28 shots at the rim.
Antetokounmpo scored 36 points and had 16 rebounds.
If it wasn’t Antetokounmpo, the Bucks had plenty of help all around with Khris Middleton, Patrick Beverly and Bobby Portis combining for 16-of-22 shooting from two-point range.
2. Bogdan Bogdanovic has hit some crucial shots over the last couple of games including a 3-pointer that sent Thursday’s game into overtime. He followed that up on Saturday with a 3 from the wing that brought the Hawks within 94-89 with 7:44 to play, their smallest deficit since they trailed 44-36 with 6:11 to play in the first half.
The Hawks’ wing has increased his shooting volume this season, averaging a career-high 8.2 attempts per game. But he’s continued to shoot efficiently, making 37.6% of his shots from deep.
He knocked down five of his nine 3-point attempts, three of which came in the Hawks’ late-game push. Bogdanovic scored 17 points in the fourth quarter, ending the night with 38 points, two points shy of his career-high. He also grabbed a career-best 10 rebounds.
“I don’t know how many missed layups we had and floaters and stuff like that,” Bogdanovic said. “It’s definitely something you need to adjust to in the flow of the game. But that’s what I do. That’s what I do every night.”
3. As they tried to find favorable matchups, the Hawks rolled out different rotations throughout the game to try and slow the Bucks.
In the first half, they matched two-way wing Vit Krejci up against Middleton but it proved a rough one for the 23-year-old. Middleton scored 12 of the Bucks’ 59 points in the first half, knocking down jumpers over Krejci’s contests.
So, the Hawks swapped Wesley Matthews onto Middleton and the Bucks’ veteran continued to look unstoppable.
The Hawks also tried matching up De’Andre Hunter on Brook Lopez and Clint Capela on Antetokounmpo before swapping them in the second half.
But the Hawks still could not string together enough stops despite varying success with the matchup changes.
“I mean two very different players,” Hunter said. “Brook is moreso spacing the floor and crashing the boards. Giannis (is) dribbling and doing everything. So you got to guard Giannis like a guard and Brook, I just had to be physical.”
4. As the Hawks clawed back into the game, the emotions rode high. With 9:19 to play in the game, Bruno Fernando fought for a rebound despite Middleton and Lopez competing for it. He grabbed and scored the putback layup while drawing an and-one opportunity off Middleton.
As Fernando celebrated, he turned to Beverly and screamed. Then he walked away and Beverly shoved him, taking umbrage with it.
Officials eventually issued technical fouls to Fernando and Beverly and the two buried the hatchet after things were reviewed.
“It was just a situation that took place and we got it all under control,” Fernando said. “At the end of the day, this is the NBA and it’s just a game of basketball. You’re just controlling and trying to figure out ways to continue to play through it.”
5. The Hawks entered Saturday’s matchup a half-game behind the Bulls. They had the chance to tie Chicago, despite not owning the tiebreaker after dropping the first two matchups in this season’s series.
But the Hawks’ loss to the Bucks drops them back one game behind the Bulls. It makes the visit to Chicago Monday all the more important if they want to try and steal the ninth seed and get home-court advantage in the Play-In Tournament.
Stat to know
315 - With his third 3-pointer of the game, Dejounte Murray passed Dennis Schroder (315) for the 16th-most in team history.
Quotable
“To get to the point where we’re down five out of that one timeout, in a lot of ways I felt that was big, for us to battle back like that.” -- Quin Snyder on the Hawks rallying.
Up next
The Hawks face the Bulls on Monday at the United Center in Chicago.
