Hawks vs. Bucks: Winning Streak Ends As Hawks Set Fire To Self With Turnovers

Quick Thought: Bad habits catch up to Atlanta as 22 turnovers do in a four-game winning streak. Poof.

Deep(er) Thoughts:

Between the Bucks hitting every outside shot in the world and the overly generous Hawks, the wonder was that the game was even in doubt down the stretch, but the Hawks actually had a 81-78 lead in the fourth quarter, but one possession with their guard let down by a guard letdown and the momentum swung back to the home team, who outscored the Hawks 30-20 the rest of the quarter for the Bucks win.

The possession in question was a careless Jeff Teague pass that Monta Ellis took all the way to the house. Teague has to focus for the entirety of his time on the court because his seven turnovers made a huge difference in the game, as well as his play-from-behind defense. Such a positive force when he is locked in -- complete opposite when he's not.

Teague has wonderful athleticism but he often relies on that to create plays by trailing his man down the lane. When he misses, it creates easy scoring opportunities for the opposition. After Teague made that pass and a couple of those defensive plays, he was out the rest of the game.

The Hawks Teague-Hinrich lineup played right into what Milwaukee wants to do with Brandon Jennings (6-13, 18 points, six assists) and Ellis (15-24, 33 points, eight assists). The Bucks guards took turns penetrating and either scoring themselves or kicking out to open shooters.

The Bucks won despite getting beat on the glass and scoring in the paint (50-32). How? Well, +10 on turnovers is one and better free throw shooting was another (94 to 58 percent shooting).

Afterthoughts:

Josh Smith is making 30 point, 18 rebounds nights in the Eastern conference games look routine.

The referees were burying the whistle on both sides for the most part, especially inside which favored the perimeter based Bucks more than the Hawks, who were trying more to get inside. Marvin Williams hasn't gotten a call since he was ignored while getting his hip injured in a mid-air non-call in Denver. He got tripped on one play and didn't get a call until he was shoved afterwards. It's part of the game, but the lack of foul calls hurt the interior Hawks more than the shooting Bucks tonight.

Ivan Johnson was 7-7 from the field, hit a three, got a couple of steals and brought home a thunderous dunk. A career high 17 points at times kept the Hawks in the game.

If Tracy McGrady only plays 6 1/2 minutes in one game, can he go ahead and play the next one or did the Hawks lose his red-shirt by dressing him against Milwaukee?

Final Thought:

I thought that Milwaukee might be the more desperate team with the Hawks playing the Bulls in Atlanta Wednesday night and the Bucks fighting to get back to eighth place in the conference, but while they moved the ball well, they really just hit a lot of jump shots. The Hawks can only fault themselves for stepping out of bounds, making lax passes and everything else that comprised their 22 turnovers for this loss.

On to the hot, hot, hot Bulls --- Hope that Hawks fans will not let the Bulls fans drown them out in the Highlight Factory tomorrow night.