There was an odd feel to Friday’s game right from the start, not so much in that the Hawks scored on five of their first seven possessions but that every one of those conversions came right at the rim in the form of a layup or a dunk.
That’s not what the Hawks had done so well in winning 14 of 15. But while the Milwaukee Bucks in that time showed few signs that they would blow out the Hawks 107-77 in Philips Arena, Atlanta showed signs of stress from start to finish.
Start with the atypical attack plan, mix in a season-high 23 turnovers, and sprinkle disastrous 4-for-23 3-point shooting and the result was a season low in points scored and a loss every bit as dreadful as the score.
Paul Millsap scored 18 of his 22 in the first half, and he grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds. That was about it for hometown highlights.
“We shot the ball poorly, we turned the ball over a lot. Defensively, we weren’t on the same page,” Kyle Korver said after making just 1-for-8 shots. “I thought mentally we were still on Christmas break a little bit.”
Atlanta’s early success in the paint wasn’t a problem.
The Hawks’ issues came when they started trying to do what they usually do.
Korver’s 3-pointer with 7:43 left in the first quarter gave Atlanta a 15-10 lead, but from there the Hawks (21-8) missed 10-of-11 3-pointers on the way to a 58-42 halftime deficit.
They weren’t better in the second half. They made 2-of-14 long balls before halftime, and 2-of-9 after.
On the other wing, forward DeMarre Carroll went scoreless. He missed all six of his shots after scoring a career-high 25 points in Tuesday’s win over the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Hawks never drew closer than 14 points in the second half, and trailed by 32 at times in the final period.
Milwaukee’s bench outscored Atlanta’s subs 54-27 (including 32-7 in the first half), and reserve forward Jared Dudley was a nightmare for the Hawks. He made all 10 of his shots while scoring a season-high 24 points, and turned in a season-high four of Milwaukee’s 15 steals.
The Bucks scored 30 points off Atlanta miscues. The Hawks’ seven-game winning streak over the Bucks, which included five consecutive victories in Philips Arena, ended dramatically.
“On the offensive end, I felt like we weren’t moving the ball good enough,” said Al Horford. “We were trying to do a lot of one-on-one stuff. All year it’s been about team; it’s just something we have to look at.”
Coach Mike Budenholzer and his team won’t have to wait long. The Hawks play the Bucks again Saturday night, in Milwaukee.
“We’ll look at the film. We’ll discuss and talk about it,” he said. “Mostly, we just need to do what we do better. There may be opportunities to made adjustments or do something differently. But I don’t think that’s going to make the difference. We just have to play a lot better.”
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