Things have gone so well for the Hawks over the past month that they became one of the nicer stories in the NBA if anyone would notice.
They still are one of the feel-good, surprise stories of the season, having won 14 of their past 16 games entering Saturday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks. But the 30-point loss at home to the Bucks the night before was a shock to the Hawks’ system.
Their job on Saturday night was to make sure Friday was just a small brush fire, not the start of a full-blown wildfire that leaves devastation in its path.
They did just that by scratching and clawing their way to a 90-85 victory behind Jeff Teague, who scored 25 points and dominated the game in the final 5 minutes. Make that 15 of the past 17 for the Hawks as they return to Philips Arena on Tuesday to face the Cleveland Cavaliers.
A simple rule in professional sports is that hot teams cool off. The Hawks’ victory removed the sting of Friday night’s blowout loss.
“We’ll know more in a couple of hours,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said before the game.
Forward Paul Millsap assured that there was nothing wrong with the Hawks’ plan of attack Friday night.
“Looking at film, it had nothing to do with the game plan,” Millsap said. “It had a lot to do with our effort. We missed a lot of shots. But it’s a new day. I feel like our shots will fall tonight and we’ll do a lot better.”
Millsap isn’t worried about an inevitable cooling off for the Hawks.
“Just be us,” he said. “We feel like if we are us, good things happen. We weren’t us last night.”
The Hawks got back to playing defense Saturday. After Milwaukee shot 50.6 percent Friday night, the Hawks held the Bucks to just 17.4 percent (4 of 23), in the first quarter on the way to a 21-10 lead. That set the tone, for a game in which both teams had a difficult time scoring, and the Hawks’ toughness earned them the victory.
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