Bucks end Hawks' 5-game win streak with 107-77 thrashing
Sometimes the NBA is weird.
The Atlanta Hawks have probably been the league's hottest team over the last month. They came into Friday night's tilt with the Milwaukee Bucks having won 14 of their last 15 games, and riding one of the most impressive five-game winning streaks you're likely to see all season, with consecutive victories over the Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Clippers. Those are five teams with legitimate championship aspirations, and three of the wins came on the road.
Naturally, a home date with the overachieving but firmly mediocre Bucks, who are dealing with the loss of standout rookie Jabari Parker, figured to be a cakewalk. But sometimes the NBA is weird.
The Hawks got off to a decent start, building an 18-14 lead in the first quarter. But the Bucks responded with a 7-0 run and never trailed again. They stretched their lead to 16 by halftime, and romped to a 107-77 win.
The Bucks picked apart the Hawks' resurgent defense with precise ball movement and drive-and-kicks off of relentless dribble penetration from their guards. All told, the Bucks finished with 28 assists on 40 field goals, and knocked down eight of their 19 3-pointers.
At the receiving end, time and again, was Jared Dudley, who dropped a season-high 24 points on - wait for it - 10-of-10 shooting and 4-of-4 from beyond the arc. Jared Dudley. Sometimes the NBA is weird.
Meanwhile, the Hawks' typically stellar 3-point shooting (they rank second in the NBA at 38.2 percent) dried up completely, and they shot an abysmal 4-of-23 from downtown. Couple that with 22 turnovers and you've got by far their most meager offensive output of the season (their previous low was 87).
In any event, the Hawks won't have to wait long to get another crack at the Bucks. The two teams play the second half of a back-to-back tomorrow night in Milwaukee.
Expect weird things.