HAWKS PULL IT OUT
(Image taken from NBA.com)
In the East, the Hawks vs Bucks series always looked like an interesting matchup in the 2010 NBA Playoffs 1st round. The series started in Atlanta with the Hawks winning Game 1 102-92 and Game 2 96-86. The series then switched to Milwaukee though where the Hawks dissed the city too much and the Bucks replied by winning Game 3 107-89 and Game 4 111-104. That made it a three gamer and so they were back in Atlanta for Game 5 wiith the series turning on it's head when the Bucks won 91-87. The Hawks looked in be buried in Game 6 in Milwaukee but had other ideas winning that one 83-69. So now it was back in Atlanta for Game 7. Do or die for both teams.
Well the Hawks opened the scoring but the Bucks were happy to match them early on, though the Hawks always seemed to have the edge. That proved to be the foundation for the home side to run the show for a bit, but the Bucks still found a response and tied the game once again. With the game grinding into a defence-demo, the Bucks took a 13-11 lead with 4:54 left in the 1st quarter only for the Hawks to then put up a brick wall. That brick wall remained throughout the rest of the quarter, allowing the home side to build up some distance between them and their opponents. It wasn't the classiest basketball of all time but Al Horford grabbed 6 points as the Hawks led 20-13 by the end of one.
At least the Bucks were able to get a couple of buckets early on in the 2nd quarter, slight problem, the Hawks got more and their lead hit double digits. At best, the Bucks looked to be just treading water already, they really seemed to have no answer to a Hawks defence that was still rock solid. As the quarter went on the Bucks again found themselves going from scraps to drought, this time for a period of over two minutes while the Hawks lead hit 20. The Bucks finally got their act together in the closing minutes of the first half but they still had a long way to go, this had been a disaster for them. Jamal Crawford had grabbed 13 points as the Hawks led 53-40 at half time.
The Bucks started the 3rd quarter on the front foot by pegging the gap back to ten and though the Hawks quickly responded, maybe this game wasn't over yet. Then the Hawks defence smothered the Bucks...again though the road side hadn't been killed off quite yet. Again though the Bucks kept running into that brick wall and for a period of over two minutes, neither side was able to put the ball in the basket - the game had just ground to a halt! It was the Bucks that recovered first but even in the last few minutes of the quarter they Hawks wouldn't let them get big ideas. Jamal Crawford was on 17 points, Mike Bibby backing him up on 15. Hawks led 73-60, try harder Bucks.
Well the Bucks couldn't hit a basket for the 1st minute of the 4th quarter. Notice a theme here? They did manage to get the deficit to twelve at one point but the home side didn't look like ltting them get any further. The Bucks looked like they wouldn't lie down but it was getting way past time for them to just be treading water. The Hawks lead then hit 20 again and by that point it was pretty obvious that the Bucks season was over. Give credit where credit's due though, the was the Bucks best playoff run since '01. However, they'll have to call this a learning experience. Jamal Crawford grabbed 22 points(off the bench), backed up by Al Horford on 16, with further backup from Bibby on 15 points and 6 rebounds, with even more support from Josh Smith with 15 points and 5 rebounds. Hawks won the game 95-74 and the series 4-3. They face the Magic in the conference semis.
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