Atlanta Hawks at Milwaukee Bucks: Win And They Are In (Again)
Well, it turns out the Hawks haven’t clinched a spot in the playoffs after all. Elias Sports Bureau called the league to tell them that the Hawks would lose a tiebreaker if they lost all of their remaining games and finished in four-way tie for the final playoffs spot. Well, OK, then. The Hawks will clinch tonight if they win or Chicago loses to Houston. Really.
Anyway, at the moment the playoffs bracket looks like this. Assuming the Celtics are going to win the Atlantic, which is a safe assumption, they would win a tiebreaker with the Hawks. From NBA.com:
TIEBREAKER BASIS:
(-) Tie breaker not needed (better overall winning percentage)
(1) Division leader wins tie from team not leading a division
(2) Head-to-head won-lost percentage
(3) Division won-lost percentage
(4) Conference won-lost percentage
(5) W-L Percentage vs. Playoff teams, own conference
(6) W-L Percentage vs. Playoff teams, other conference
(7) Net Points, all games
Suddenly solid vet John Salmons, not super rook Brandon Jennings, is the story for the Bucks.
The Bucks loom as a potential playoff opponent. Normally the Hawks might not have too much concern about a team that hasn’t been anywhere near them in the standings and can’t match their talent. But these are not normal circumstances. The Bucks are just 38-30 but they are 14-3 since the All-Star break. More to the point, they are 14-2 since adding John Salmons in a trade.
You might remember how Salmons lit up the Hawks for 32 points during Milwaukee’s overtime loss at Philips Arena and did a respectable job checking J.J. until he got Iso-Joed at the end. What you may not remember is how Salmons joined the Bulls in a trade last season along with Brad Miller and helped catapult them to the playoffs. Now my man Charlie G at the Journal Sentinel notes Salmons is having a similar effect on the Bucks since the Bulls unloaded him to clear space for the summer free agent bonanza.
“When we were talking about making a move, we looked at him, and still do, as just a good, all-around pro guard,” Bucks coach Scott Skiles said. “He can post up a little bit. He shoots the ball well enough. He can put it on the floor and get to the rim. He can dish it if necessary. He’s a solid defender. He’s a professional and has a real calm demeanor out there, and that has helped our guys.”
Since the Bucks and Hawks strangely didn’t meet for the first time until the late date of Feb. 28, the Hawks can measure themselves against the new-look Bucks and not the team that was sputtering along at 24-28 before Salmons arrived. Looking at the game-by-game efficiency numbers, the Bucks seem to be a better team offensively with Salmons –they’ve topped 100 points in offensive efficiency in 13 of 16 of games with him after doing so in just 31 of 68 previously. Their rugged defense also hasn’t appeared to skip a beat on defense–they’ve held 11 of 16 opponents below 100 points in defensive efficiency with Salmons after doing so in 21 of 68 games before his arrival.
It should be noted that the Salmons Bucks didn’t go a good job stopping the Hawks in their first meeting and have had similar problems with the better offensive teams. But the Bucks also have more offensive punch with Salmons. This is all along way of saying the Bucks would be a dangerous opponent for the Hawks to face in the playoffs.
That’s assuming the Hawks really, truly clinch a postseason berth at some point.
MC
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
371 comments Add your comment
Wabe
March 22nd, 2010
8:56 pm
Man, the Hawks have been playing some great basketball here lately.
Ree Roe
March 22nd, 2010
8:57 pm
Bawse
-REEly on Roe!!!
J.J.M.
March 22nd, 2010
8:57 pm
horford playing like somebody stole something from him
HawksFan11
March 22nd, 2010
8:57 pm
Ball movement is fantastic tonight. The whole team is just in sync on both ends. I’m loving it.
Jody
March 22nd, 2010
8:59 pm
Considering the fact that Josh is essentially a small forward (size wise) playing power forward and he busts his hump and expends so much energy every night, I can live with and understand why he takes the occasional long jumper. He doesn’t have limitless energy all the time.
Taylor
March 22nd, 2010
9:00 pm
Horford much read the blogs
J.J.M.
March 22nd, 2010
9:01 pm
3 pointer keeping them in the game
VenomSpitter
March 22nd, 2010
9:01 pm
Jamal is on fire
HawksFan11
March 22nd, 2010
9:01 pm
Don’t forget Hawks fans, email all the local sportscasters and remind them that there’s a pro basketball team from Atlanta that’s doing serious work. Film at 11 please?
Sleepy
March 22nd, 2010
9:03 pm
cmon someone lock in on Delfino
HawksFan11
March 22nd, 2010
9:03 pm
Man I hope Woodson doesn’t break Jamal’s spirit. He’s the one guy that gets chewed out coming off a turnover.
Melvin
March 22nd, 2010
9:03 pm
Red hot shooting from the Hawks in the 1st half….
Jody
March 22nd, 2010
9:03 pm
Great play out of the timeout!
joBjo
March 22nd, 2010
9:03 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mY8de2-UCrY
Bibby bails out Crawdad. that’s team work.
Sautee
March 22nd, 2010
9:04 pm
Bibby had Crawford’s back.
BONE
March 22nd, 2010
9:04 pm
smmmmmmmmmmmmmmaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaackdddddddddd………….the bucks are hype THEY WILL GET SWEPT IN THE PLAYOFFS I GUARNTEE IT
vava74
March 22nd, 2010
9:04 pm
We are depending on the jump shot… If we start to shoot jar a mite worse we will be in trouble since we are giving away too many offensive rebounds…
J.J.M.
March 22nd, 2010
9:05 pm
wats up bone
Sautee
March 22nd, 2010
9:05 pm
Props to Woody for that play coming out of the time out.
Folks, he keeps improving as a coach.
P. Bull Terrier
March 22nd, 2010
9:05 pm
The Atlanta Spirit Group can’t even clinch a playoff berth right.
O'Brien
March 22nd, 2010
9:06 pm
Good First half for the Hawks. Lets not give up a run in the 3rd quarter.
That being said, what’s up with Josh’ FG %? Last night he went 5-16, and tonight he is 1-5. Isn’t it strange to see him with bad shooting games 2 nights in a row?
vava74
March 22nd, 2010
9:07 pm
Jamal is one of the most exciting players in the league.
When he is on, he excites us. When he’s off he excites the other team…
VenomSpitter
March 22nd, 2010
9:08 pm
O’Brien thats becuz all Josh has been doin lately is just shoot dumb long jumpers. And he doesn’t see how stupid it is to do that.
vava74
March 22nd, 2010
9:09 pm
Josh has been in love with his jump shot lately… Hence his bad shooting nights.
He has been launching between 4 to 6 bad shots per game.
Ree Roe
March 22nd, 2010
9:10 pm
Bibbridge at the buzzer! Impressive first half by the Hawks. Jamal & Al keyed that first half for us. Great defense by the Hawks in that 2nd Q too
-I REEk of Roe!!!
Sleepy
March 22nd, 2010
9:11 pm
Craw with his average at halftime off the bench !!
Bibby with his average at the half !!
Al with 10 and 5 at the half I fully expect 20 and 10 out of him tonight !!
nice first half on the road now lets go and close out this back to back ..We know they will make a run but lets put so much distance between us that it doesnt matter .
Blast
March 22nd, 2010
9:14 pm
If Hawks win tonight, which they should, the Bucks fans are gonna be mighty disappointed, because they have been quite passionate for their ballclub.
bigdave
March 22nd, 2010
9:16 pm
lol @ 73% Vin Baker….
KevinA
March 22nd, 2010
9:18 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rek3g8znpOg
KevinA
March 22nd, 2010
9:20 pm
that is how it is done
Ree Roe
March 22nd, 2010
9:21 pm
lmao @ those poll numbers. You’ve got Lew Alcindor, Sidney Moncrief, Bob Lanier & Oscar Robertson as choices for the best Buck of all time & 73% of the vote goes for Vin Baker. What?!? lmao. Does anyone on here vote in those text it in polls?
-no REEgrets for Roe!!!
Hawk n the Ham
March 22nd, 2010
9:21 pm
Bring on the Bucks in the 1st round! I bet Michael Wilbon of PTI will change his prediction the Bucks to beat the Hawks in the playoffs…..Dingleberry.
Blast
March 22nd, 2010
9:21 pm
Celtics out of the gate quick versus Utah.
VenomSpitter
March 22nd, 2010
9:23 pm
Uh oh send in teague bibby is hurt lol
Hawk n the Ham
March 22nd, 2010
9:23 pm
LMAO. Jennings just got him a handful of ‘Little Bibby’.
Jody
March 22nd, 2010
9:24 pm
That was funky KevinA!
VenomSpitter
March 22nd, 2010
9:25 pm
Has Marvin even touched the ball 2day? I mean damn. I can’t say he’s played bad becuz they haven’t let him do anything
Sleepy
March 22nd, 2010
9:28 pm
They tried to post marvin up and he stumbled and lost the ball
hes also missed a corner three
hes 1-2 with 3 tos
his contract stipulates two performances like last night a month so hes trying to save his next for this weekend
HawksFan11
March 22nd, 2010
9:28 pm
Now I KNOW that Al reads this blog.
Blast
March 22nd, 2010
9:29 pm
Anytime Joe is wide open for the jumper, you know 90% of the time he is making that shot.
Najeh Davenpoop
March 22nd, 2010
9:29 pm
The Bucks are a pretty good defensive team with Mbah a Moute on the floor, but in both games Atlanta has played against them, I kinda see the rest of the team have the mentality that Bogut is going to get the rebounds so they don’t have to. When Bogut is out of position it’s like they give up on the board.
I think they are a good team, but they are not coming close to beating the Hawks in a 7 game series.
HawksFan11
March 22nd, 2010
9:30 pm
Inspected – rejected. Employee #5
HawksFan11
March 22nd, 2010
9:31 pm
Agreed Najeh
Hawk n the Ham
March 22nd, 2010
9:31 pm
Nique said, “Crawford too open on that shot”. LOL. I guess he needed some ‘Nimbers’ in his face
Jody
March 22nd, 2010
9:31 pm
Great step back jumper by Josh and then the fly swat rejection.
Blast
March 22nd, 2010
9:34 pm
Compared to last night versus Spurs, this game is so free of drama, intrigue, plots and sub-plots that it is so….Yawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwn!!!!
Oh, well, Magic comes next………..
Hawk n the Ham
March 22nd, 2010
9:35 pm
Bogut = Dingleberry
bigdave
March 22nd, 2010
9:35 pm
loss the pass Nique?
Najeh Davenpoop
March 22nd, 2010
9:35 pm
Was that 6′10″ Al Horford rejecting 7′0″ Andrew Bogut and forcing a turnover?
Najeh Davenpoop
March 22nd, 2010
9:36 pm
“Compared to last night versus Spurs, this game is so free of drama, intrigue, plots and sub-plots that it is so….Yawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwn!!!!”
Heh… let’s hope it stays that way. The Hawks could use a drama-free game. 4 games in 5 nights ain’t no joke.
In other news, Nique just called Luke Ridnour a “baby Kareem”.