A preview of the Atlanta Hawks second game of the season against the Milwaukee Bucks and Coach Bud.
On Sunday the Atlanta Hawks have a home matchup with one of the hottest teams in the league in the Milwaukee Bucks, who destroyed them 144-112 in their first matchup this year.
The Hawks are coming off of a thrilling win over the Philadelphia 76ers, in which Kevin “Ronald Threesley” Huerter dropped a career-high 29 points and John Collins hit a game-winning stepback jump shot. With the win, the Hawks sit at 4-6 in their last 10 games. And hopefully Huerter, Collins and co. have some of that momentum rolling when they host the Bucks on Sunday afternoon.
When the Bucks and Hawks faced off on January 4, the Bucks dominated from the start, racing out to a 43-14 lead heading into the second quarter. 12 different Bucks players scored in the game.
The biggest issue was Atlanta’s inability to provide any sort of resistance at the rim. Trae Young, Jeremy Lin and anyone else who guarded on the perimeter, struggled mightily trying to contain Malcolm Brogdon (19 points on 66.7% shooting) and Eric Bledsoe (14 points on 53.8% shooting) off the dribble. Young specifically had trouble navigating screens–a normal and common occurrence this season–and the Hawks will need to be much more aggressive in their helpside defense this time around.
Seeing if Huerter and Collins can have repeat big performances against another Eastern Conference contender with be the most intriguing storyline in Sunday’s game. Huerter was one of the few Hawks with relative success in the first game against Coach Bud and crew, going 4/10 from the field and finishing with 10 points, but struggling from the 3-point line.
Collins on the other hand was bothered mightily by the Bucks length, though he also scored in double digits, finish with 12 points on 4/9 shooting. They both will need to be more aggressive this time around, as the Hawks will likely still struggle to stop the Bucks inside offense, which scored an incredible 72 points in the paint in the first matchup.
The Atlanta Hawks Sunday afternoon matchup Bucks will tip-off at 3:30 p.m. EST.