There must be something in the water.
For the second time this season, the Hawks rebounded from a blowout loss at home with a victory in Milwaukee.
The Hawks suffered through a dreadful third quarter, losing a 15-point lead before pulling away for a 97-86 victory over the Bucks at the Bradley Center on Sunday afternoon.
The win, which snapped a season-long two-game losing streak, came after the Hawks were blown out by the Raptors on Friday following the All-Star break. The Hawks avenged a 30-point home loss to the Bucks following the December holiday break in the second of back-to-back games.
“Activity,” Al Horford said of the difference in the past two games. “I feel like we were much better, more in sync. That first game after All-Star (break) is always hard. We were able to get it together tonight and have a much better effort.”
The Hawks (44-12) have won six straight games in Milwaukee. They increased their lead in the Eastern Conference to six games over the idle Raptors with 26 games remaining in the regular season.
Paul Millsap led the Hawks with game-highs of 23 points and 16 rebounds, one board shy of his season high. Millsap was joined in double-figure scoring by Horford (15), Kyle Korver (12), Dennis Schroder (12), DeMarre Carroll (10) and Jeff Teague (10). Schroder also finished with nine assists. Millsap is averaging 20.7 points and 11.7 rebounds on 65 percent shooting in three games against the Bucks this season.
“I was being aggressive,” Millsap said. “Offensively, defensively being aggressive, attacking the basket.”
The Bucks (31-24) had winning streaks of four games overall and seven games at home snapped. They were paced by Giannis Antetokounmp and Khris Middletown with 19 points apiece.
The Hawks played a much better defensive game than in recent outings, particularly against the Raptors. The Hawks forced the Bucks into 25 turnovers, a season-best.
Still, the Hawks had to survive a comeback after they had held a comfortable lead. They improved their record to 38-2 in games that they’ve held a double-digit lead. The Hawks were outscored 29-18 in the third quarter when the Bucks erased their big deficit. Blame a 25 percent shooting effort (4-of-16, 0-of-4 from 3-point range) and nine turnovers.
The Bucks briefly tied the game, 64-64, with 53.3 seconds left in the quarter and the once-quiet home crowd was right back in the game. It was the first time the Bucks came that close since two and half minutes into the game.
And what was coach Mike Budenholzer’s message to his team?
“This is good for us,” Budenholzer said he told the team. “It’s good for us to get tight. They responded. It’s good for us to have a little moment where we weren’t good and we needed to respond and it’s a credit to our players that they did that.”
A good thing?
“That is what he said,” Horford said. “It’s exactly what he said. On the road, the crowd got pretty loud there. We just stuck with it, kept playing our way.”
The Hawks responded with a 17-4 run, Korver hitting three 3-pointers in a span of 1:53 to ignite the surge. The Hawks would eventually push their lead to a game-high 17 points in the fourth quarter to close out the victory.
“I didn’t feel real in sync the last few games before the break,” Korver said. “And then the break comes and there are a bunch of days when you don’t play much basketball. I feel like it’s been a few weeks that I haven’t shot the ball well, like I want to. It hasn’t felt the way I wanted it to. It was good to hit a couple shots and see the ball go in the basket. Hopefully, I can keep building on that.”
The Hawks took a 48-35 lead into halftime as they forced 16 turnovers, nine in the first quarter and seven in the second. Millsap had 12 points and nine rebounds (six offensive) through the first two quarters.
The Hawks next host the Mavericks on Wednesday.
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