Milwaukee Bucks hand Atlanta Hawks’ third-straight loss
The Milwaukee Bucks handed the Atlanta Hawks their third-straight defeat with a convincing 108-91 win behind the huge lift they got from their bench players on Wednesday 10 November at the
Philips Arena in Atlanta.
Corey Maggette came off the bench and spearheaded the Bucks attack with his 20 points on 7-for-8 shooting and Milwaukee’s reserve outscored their Hawks counterpart 35-6 in the first half
en route to their second-straight win.
“We've got to give our bench a lot of credit tonight,” said Bucks coach Scott Skiles. “They came out and not only got us back in the game but, I believe, we had a 27-point turnaround in the
first half.”
Brandon Jennings also had an impressive night as the second-year guard finished the game with 19 points and six assists, while Ersan Ilyasova had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Bucks,
who were eliminated by the Hawks in last season’s play-offs.
“This is a whole new season,” said Bucks centre Andrew Bogut, who finished with eight points and six rebounds. “People are going to build this rivalry up because they beat us in the playoffs,
but it's pretty much a whole new team.”
The Hawks started the game on fire and they raced to an early 20-7 lead before the Bucks’ bench players entered the game and slowly chipped in to the lead and pulled within five points, 26-21,
at the end of the opening period.
Milwaukee continued to surge, ending the first half with a 54-40 lead, and they never looked back and dominated the Hawks in the second half to score their first winning streak of the season.
“Our starters have gotten us off to fast starts,” said Atlanta Hawks head coach Larry Drew. “I'm not getting the energy from the bench. That is the third game that's happened to us. I have
to find better combinations to use that can sustain the energy.”
Zaza Pachulia had 16 points and five rebounds, while Al Horford and Joe Johnson finished with 14 and 13 points, respectively, for the Hawks, who absorbed their third defeat after starting
the season with six-straight victories.
“When adversity hit us in the face, we went our separate ways,” said Smith, who also grabbed eight rebounds for Atlanta. “We'll figure out what's going wrong, and we'll fix it really quick.”
Rookie Jordan Crawford added 11 points, while second-year forward Jeff Teague added 10 points and six assists, but the Hawks just could not match the intensity off the Bucks.
“When it gets a little tough, we have a tendency to hold our heads down,” Drew said. “I don't want to see our guys hang their heads.”
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