Don’t tell DeMarre Carroll and the Hawks there is nothing left to play for in the final games of the regular season.
With the Hawks locked into the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, the forward had a game-high 23 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two blocked shots in a 101-88 victory against the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night at Philips Arena.
“We’ve got a lot to play for,” Carroll said. “We’ve got to get our mojo back, get our momentum back, especially heading into the playoffs. We are trying to do something special and we are taking no games for granted. Each time we step on the floor we are trying to keep jelling and keep our rhythm.”
The Hawks (56-18, 32-5 home) are one victory away from tying the franchise record for wins in a season, last done during the 1993-94 season. With the win, the Hawks also wrapped up the season series with the Bucks 3-1.
The Bucks trailed by double-digits but pulled to within 56-51 in the third quarter. That’s when Korver caught fire. The guard scored 11 consecutive points on four field goals, including three 3-pointers, in a span of just 65 seconds. In just over a minute, the Hawks had a 16-point advantage, enough separation for the victory.
In addition to Carroll, the Hawks got 18 points and seven rebounds from Al Horford, and 15 points and seven rebounds from Paul Millsap. Thabo Sefolosha and Korver finished with 11 points apiece. Jeff Teague had eight points and nine assists after missing two games with a left ankle sprain.
“The thing that you don’t want to do in this situation is relax and think we’ve got this wrapped up and then lose all your habits and your momentum and lose your rhythm and go into the playoffs not at your best,” Korver said. “I have no idea what the schedule is and how (coach Mike Budenholzer) will use us and the minutes-wise but when we are out there we need to play hard. We need to play with energy and purpose and try to play our best basketball here in a couple weeks.”
The Bucks (36-38) dropped their second game in a row. They were led by Giannis Antetokounm with 18 points.
Following the game, coach Jason Kidd blasted his team’s effort as the fight for playoff position.
“We didn’t play hard enough tonight,” Kidd said. “We had another no-show tonight.”
After Korver went on his scoring binge for the 16-point advantage, the Bucks battled back. But the Hawks took a 72-64 advantage into the final quarter and the Bucks got no closer.
“We know the playoffs aren’t here,” Millsap said. “We’ll just use this team to get better and when the playoffs come we’ll be ready for it.”
Dennis Schroder sustained a left toe injury in the second quarter on a drive to the basket and did not return. His return was originally listed as questionable but he was ruled out. Schroder played just five minutes and finished with four points, all from the free-throw line. He will not travel with the team to Detroit for Tuesday’s game.
The Hawks led by as many as 14 points in the first half and took a 46-39 lead into intermission. Horford had 14 first-half points.
The Hawks’ effort, despite having the conference wrapped up, was encouraging to Budenholzer.
“It’s OK to use the cliché,” Budenholzer said when asked if he was pleased with the effort. “We try to be honest and we try to be critical of ourselves. We need to play that way and approach each game with that kind of focus. … We need to approach games like we did tonight and we’ll get better going down the stretch.”
The Hawks will conclude a stretch of four games in five nights against the Pistons. Budenholzer likely will rest several players as he did Saturday at Charlotte in that second of back-to-back games.
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