As a brief preview for the upcoming Eastern Conference Finals, we will look back on the regular-season matchups between the Hawks and the Bucks. Two of the matchups were in State Farm Arena as Milwaukee took their home game and one of the away contests in Atlanta, finishing the regular-season series 2-1.
January 24th, 2021: Milwaukee 129, Atlanta 115Â
In the only matchup of the three games during the regular season played at Fiserv Forum, the shorthanded Hawks fell to the Bucks after an announcement an hour before tip-off that Trae Young and Clint Capela wouldn’t be available for the game — joining Kris Dunn and Bogdan Bogdanovic. Oneyka Okongwu made his first career start and held up well against Giannis Antetokounmpo, but Atlanta couldn’t do much to stop Milwaukee’s offense, falling behind by as many as 24 points in the second quarter. De’Andre Hunter and John Collins played admirably, but it wasn’t enough to come back as Giannis finished two assists shy of a triple-double, and Bobby Portis came off the bench, hitting 9-of-16 shots for 21 points.
April 15th, 2021: Milwaukee 120, Atlanta 109
Following back-to-back road wins and an impressive overall stretch of seven victories in eight games, the Hawks were short-handed at home once again hosting the Bucks — John Collins, De’Andre Hunter, Tony Snell, Cam Reddish, Kris Dunn, and Danilo Gallinari were sidelined. Depth was an important issue in this contest and was eventually the reason why Atlanta lost. Giannis played for the first time in two weeks and scored 15 points with five boards in 25 minutes. Bogdanović continued his blazing-hot shooting at that time with 28 points on 6-of-12 from three-point range, to go along with seven assists and six rebounds. Clint Capela added a double-double with 16 points and 16 rebounds, and Kevin Huerter tallied 16 points, six rebounds, and four assists. Still, the second unit didn’t have enough this particular night and was mostly attributed to loss.
April 25th, 2021: Atlanta 111, Milwaukee 104
This game was all about the fourth-quarter barrage by the Hawks. Capela guarded Giannis for much of the game and performed admirably. Red Velvet and Bogi combined for 25 of Atlanta’s first 37 points. Heading into the fourth quarter, the Hawks trailed the Bucks 78-70. Then Lou Williams and Bogi powered a 15-3 run and combined for seven consecutive made three-pointers as the Hawks outscored the Bucks 41-26 in the fourth quarter.
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The tale of the tape in the regular season was injuries, and unfortunately, it could again be the reason Atlanta struggles. Bogi, Hunter, and Reddish are either limited or unavailable for the Eastern Conference Finals, while the Bucks are relatively healthy.
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Photo: Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire
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