Bucks vs. Hawks: Atlanta overpowers Milwaukee at home

NBA: Atlanta Hawks at Milwaukee Bucks — Michael McLoone-Imagn Images

Fatigue serving as a problem in this one for Milwaukee

One night after achieving season-highs on the offensive end in Detroit, the Milwaukee Bucks fell back to Earth and crumbled at home to the Atlanta Hawks, 119-104.

Read our full summary of the game here and catch a six-minute audio recap on the Bucks+ podcast Bucks In Six Minutes below.

What Did We Learn?

This wasn’t one that featured the best energy from the Bucks. It seemed that right from the opening tip, Atlanta was able to capitalize on a fatigued Milwaukee team. I mentioned it in my Rapid Recap piece, but pre-game, Doc Rivers mentioned to us that if the league wants teams to start taking the NBA Cup seriously, they shouldn’t have a game the night after a Cup game. That sounds reasonable, as it does add wear and tear to the players. Where this stat really stood out was in the fast break points, where Atlanta more than doubled up the Bucks, 30 compared to 12. If the Bucks want to win on the road in Boston on Friday, that’s an area they’re definitely going to need to clean up. This was all backed up by Doc’s comments postgame, in which he mentioned he thought the team was dead-legged and just wasn’t thinking well:

Doc Rivers: “I thought we were dead-legged most of the game. We didn’t think well, which is a direct sign of fatigue. Didn’t execute very well. Our passes were really late.”

— Eric Nehm (@eric_nehm) December 5, 2024

Three Observations

The rims were tight for the Bucks in this one.

After a game in Detroit that saw them shoot the best they’ve shot from the perimeter this season, the script was flipped in that perspective this time around. Milwaukee would hit just 15 points on the night, far from the output that they were able to feature in Detroit. In a game where sluggish play can really dictate the flow of things, it was imperative for the Bucks to hit more of those. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to do much of that. On the other side, Atlanta shot just 9/32 from beyond the perimeter. However, that just shows how much the Bucks could’ve changed things with even a few more threes falling.

It was a bad night on the boards for Milwaukee.

In a SEGABABA, one of the main areas you don’t want to give up any ground on is in the rebounding department. Unfortunately for the Bucks, they were outmatched all night long in that category. Atlanta hauled in a total of 55 boards compared to Milwaukee’s 40 on the night, including 16 offensive rebounds from the Hawks. Clint Capela in particular was causing trouble all night long down low for the Bucks. He’d finish things with a game-high 14 boards.

Jalen Johnson has really developed into an exciting player.

Representing Nicolet High School in the Association, Johnson has really blossomed this year into a real formidable piece for the Hawks. It seems like just yesterday I was in Madison watching him take Nicolet to the Division I state championship. Last night, he boasted a 23 point, 13 rebound performance. Some of the moves he made were nearly Giannis-esque, utilizing his length in a creative manner. He’s also shown signs of being able to hit the 3-point ball throughout the season, though he failed to hit one in this contest.

Bonus Bucks Bits

Doc Rivers continues to have the best pressers:

Pre-game, Doc Rivers was joking around about Trae Young owning the record for most assists in Atlanta Hawks history.

He then went on to say that he told Trae this summer that when he heard the trade rumors, he said, “Boy, I hope they trade you.” pic.twitter.com/4qaU4SaUwO

— Gabe Stoltz (@Stoltzy3) December 4, 2024

In the first quarter, there was a sequence where Brook Lopez flung a ball that was heading out of bounds backwards to Taurean Prince, who then floated a picture-perfect pass up to Giannis Antetokounmpo for the alley-oop. It was pretty beautiful.
For the second consecutive game, Brook Lopez didn’t inflict much damage on the offensive side of the ball, tallying five points again. The Bucks will look for him to bounce back in Boston on Friday.
It was a rough night from Bobby Portis. He put forth just six points on an ugly 2/6 shooting, never really being able to develop into a groove. At one point, his frustration also got the best of him when he had a technical foul assessed to himself.
As a fan of uniforms across all sports, I admired Atlanta’s red and golden yellow trim. It really pops in person. Compared to where they were a few years ago with that bizarre neon green, this is a huge upgrade.
The Bucks could’ve used this guy out on the floor in this one:

A Bucks fan just hit eight free throws in the Money Ball challenge for $800. He then doubled it by burying a 3-pointer. That HAS to be a record!

— Gabe Stoltz (@Stoltzy3) December 5, 2024

Up Next

The Bucks are now off until Friday, which is when they’ll travel to Boston to take on the Celtics. You can catch the action at 6 p.m. CDT on both FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin and ESPN.