Five observations from the Hawks’ 114-110 comeback victory over the Bucks Friday.
1. Dwight Howard assisted on Tim Hardaway Jr.'s game-clinching shot as the Hawks erased a 20-point first-half deficit. Let that sink in. Howard found Hardaway, who hit a 3-pointer with 35 seconds left to give the Hawks a 110-106 lead. Hardaway had just subbed for Thabo Sefolosha at a timeout. Turns out he was the third option on the play.
“We saw that we had 13 seconds so we knew we had to go kind of quick,” Hardaway said. “The first option, they defended it very well. The second option, the also defended it very well. The third option, we kicked it out to Dwight and I just had to be shot-ready in the corner and knock it down.”
Hardaway let out a scream as the ball went through the net – releasing a ton of pent-up emotion for a team that had a rough three weeks with one win in 11 games.
“When they gave me the ball, the whole defense collapsed in the middle of the paint,” Howard said. “I saw Tim out of the corner of my eye. I wanted to get it to him sooner but I kind of bobbled it for a quick second. I’m glad he caught it and hit that big shot.”
2. Here we go again. The Hawks fell behind by 20 points, 66-46, at halftime after a disastrous second quarter. They made just 8 of 22 shots, including 1 of 9 from 3-point range. The Bucks made 14 of 23 shots, including 6 of 8 from 3-point range.
The Hawks started their epic rally with a 40-point third quarter, the largest scoring output for a quarter this season. It was they who shot near 60 percent from the field and made 8 of 13 3-pointers. Dennis Schroder, Mike Muscala and Hardaway each had two 3-pointers in the period. Hardaway completed a four-point play when he made a free throw after being fouled on bouncing long-range shot with 1:18 left. The Hawks would get as close as six points, 90-84, in the third quarter.
“It’s frustrating to be down the way we were in the first half,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “Offensively, I thought we had a lot of good opportunities that we just didn’t convert in the first half. In the second half, we were able to convert those. The level to which our activity dissipates when we’re not making shots is … you can’t do that in this league. In the second half, we executed and made more shots. Would have been nice if we had played the same way in the first.”
3. The Bucks could do little to stop Schroder, who finished with a career-high 33 points. The point guard had 17 first-quarter points, all in the Hawks' first 21 points scored. He also had eight points in the fourth quarter, including the game-winning basket. His driving layup with 1:07 remaining gave the Hawks a 107-106 lead they would not relinquish.
Schroder was 12 of 19 from the field, including four 3-pointers.
“I was just aggressive,” Schroder said. “I had the turnover on the first play but I stayed aggressive. It felt great. They set great screens and I was open. I just shot it.”
4. Budenholzer played Schroder and Malcolm Delaney together. He has done it once before but never to the extent he did Friday. The Bucks went with a three-guard lineup at times and Budenholzer responded by using both of his point guards.
“It started in the first half when we were down by a significant margin,” Budenholzer said. “We were just trying to find a combination that worked. They had a little bit of foul trouble with (Giannis) Antetokounmpo so they were playing two point guards for a bit with (Malcolm) Brogdon, (Matthew) Dellavedova and Jason Terry. Two of those three were on the court a lot. We needed somebody to get us some minutes.”
The two point guard combination was one of the reasons Howard played just nine minutes in the first half.
5. Kent Bazemore was in a suit, sitting out a second game with a sore right knee. He even did a little television work. However, he had an impact on the game. According to several players, Bazemore spoke up at halftime to deliver a message. The Hawks were capable of a comeback. And if they did …
“Bazemore said at halftime, this could be a turnaround for our season,” Hardaway said. “It just shows with the resiliency in this locker room and playing for each other, it’s at an all-time high right now. We need it more than ever after having that tough stretch.”
It wasn’t just Bazemore. Budenholzer got into his team at the intermission as well, warning them of the several lopsided losses that came in the losing streak.
“It was just about having some pride, going out there and trying to get it done,” Millsap said.
