3/27 Atlanta Hawks vs Milwaukee Bucks Game Day Preview: All You Need to Know
By Editorial Staff
Who?: Atlanta Hawks (6th in East) vs Milwaukee Bucks (9th in East)
When?: March 27 2012; 8:00 PM (Eastern Time)
Where?: Bradley Center (Milwaukee, WI)
How?: SportSouth HD (TV) & 680 AM (93.7 radio)
Other Atlanta Hawks Coverage: Atlanta Hawks Fan Site, AJC Blog, Peachtree Hoops (SB Nation), Hoopinion (TrueHoop)
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Projected Starting Lineups:
Atlanta Hawks:
PG: Jeff Teague | SG: Kirk Hinrich | C: Zaza Pachulia| PF: Josh Smith | SF: Joe Johnson
Milwaukee Bucks:
PG: Brandon Jennings| SG: Monta Elllis | C: Drew Gooden | PF: Ersan Ilyasova | SF: Luc Mbah A Moute
Injury/Inactive Players Report:
Atlanta: Al Horford (left pectoral surgery) and Jannero Pargo (appendicitis) are out.
Milwaukee: Carlos Delfino (groin) is day-to-day and Kwame Brown (torn pectoral muscle) is out.
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Current Records/Streak & Hot, Lukewarm, or Cold:
Records: The Atlanta Hawks are (30-20) and the Milwaukee Bucks are (22-27).
Streak: The Hawks are on a nice 4 game win streak, and the Bucks are on a disappointing 2 game losing streak.
Away/Home: The Hawks are (14-13) on the road, and the Bucks are (11-11) at home.
Against .500+ teams: The Bucks only post a record of (8-23) against winning teams this season.
Against non-winning teams: The Atlanta Hawks post an impressive record of (21-3) against non-winning teams this season.
Atlanta Hawks– Hot. The Hawks have tied their longest win streak of the season (4). All 4 games have been too close for comfort, but 4 wins is 4 wins.
Milwaukee Bucks- Cool. The Bucks are on a 2 game losing streak, and they are also on a 4 game losing streak against teams that are above .500. Their last 7 wins have all come against teams with sub-.500 records.
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Season/Past Season Series:
This is the third and last overall meeting between the two teams, and the second and last meeting in Milwaukee. The Hawks currently lead the season series 2-0.
However, this series has been close. In the two wins, the Hawks have only beaten the Bucks by a total margin of 10 points.
The Hawks have won the last three overall games vs the Bucks, spanning to last season.
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3 Things I’m Looking Out For:
- Any signs of fatigue? The Hawks luckily got one day of rest after the quadruple overtime game vs the Jazz on the third game of a back-to-back-to-back. However, was that enough to get their knees back? In the middle of the 3rd quarter vs the Jazz, it looked like a lot of the players just ran out of gas. They didn’t have their knees under them and it clearly showed. The Hawks, as Larry Drew always likes to say, “gutted it out” and somehow managed to win the game in quadruple overtime. Teague, Johnson, and Pachulia all played 50+ minutes, while Hinrich and Marvin Williams played 43+ minutes. Josh Smith also gave 30 minutes before fouling out. All of these players you have to watch out for tonight. Will any of them be showing effect to the amount of minutes they have logged, not only in the quadruple overtime game, but to all the games in the past week?
- Joe Johnson vs Monta Ellis. As we all know, the Hawks very own, Joe Johnson, was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week. Deservedly so, he made big shots in all 4 wins the past week. He has a tough match-up tonight though, as he faces the ever so deadly and explosive Monta Ellis. I’m not sure if either one of them will even be guarding each other tonight, but you have to spotlight this match-up, simply because both of them are widely known as two of the best scorers in the shooting guard position. If Carlos Delfino is indeed a no-go for tonight, I have to give this match-up to Joe. The Bucks just don’t have the players that have the ability to defend Joe one on one. Im sure Skiles will look to send an extra player to help out on Joe Johnson, but that’s basically telling the Hawks to beat the opposing team with Josh Smith….
- Josh Smith. He might have to play “Batman” tonight if Skiles does indeed put the pressure on Joe Johnson to give up the ball. Luc Mbah A Moute has done a good job defending against Josh Smith in the past, but if Josh Smith can take good shots tonight (meaning limiting the amount of jump shots he takes), I don’t see how Smith can’t have a good game tonight. Smith has improved his post game, and Mbah A Moute or Ilyasova just don’t have the size to guard Josh Smith in the post.
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