The Hawks were perhaps in too jolly a mood after getting to spend some of the holidays at home following an impressive winning streak. After being such gracious hosts for Coach Jason Kidd’s Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night, hopefully the Bucks will return the favor tonight (8:30 PM Eastern, SportSouth, FSN Wisconsin) in America’s Dairyland.

To those ready to hand Mike Budenholzer the unofficial honor of Eastern Conference Coach of the Year, Jason Kidd would like to have a word with you. Say whatever you will about his summertime defection from Brooklyn to join his owner-pal in Wisconsin, but it’s hard to argue with the notion that Kidd placed himself in a far better situation right now.

While the Nets continue to wobble, his young Bucks (15-15) are still looking good as a playoff contender in the East. After goring the Hawks without Larry Sanders (flu) on Friday, outscoring Atlanta in all four quarters, a sweep tonight would help Milwaukee surpass their entire 2013-14 win total. Kidd’s striving to keep spirits bright despite a spate of injuries that might still imperil their postseason hopes.

John Henson is playing through an ankle sprain, and Ersan Ilyasova has been out for the course of the month after a rough collision earned him a concussion and a broken nose. Yet the unkindest cut to date for Milwaukee was the loss of their rookie star for the season. Jabari Parker was arguably the frontrunner for Rookie of the Year while averaging 12.3 PPG, 5.5 RPG, and 1.2 SPG while shooting 49.0 FG% (58.9% in December), until an ACL tear 12 days ago disrupted his, and his team’s, progress.

But Kidd won’t allow his team to cave in, besting one of his old teams in Phoenix that night, keeping close against contenders like the Blazers and Clippers, and then flying into ATL the day after Christmas to trounce the Hawks by 30. The Bucks used their length to repeatedly press Hawks’ point guards Jeff Teague and Dennis Schröder (1-for-9 FGs) out of Plan A in Atlanta’s halfcourt offense, and to make shots for Kyle Korver (1-for-6 3FGs) and DeMarre Carroll (0-for-5 3FGs) much more of a challenge. They were prepared to pounce anytime the Hawks’ bigs (five frontcourt assists, 11 TOs) looked to pass the ball.

You can pretty much put the long-named and even longer-limbed Giannis Antetokounmpo at any of four positions on the floor. And while you can’t expect good shooting (18.8 3FG%; 2-for-10 FGs last night), you can expect a highlight-per-minute out of the Greek Freak.

Summer acquisition Jared Dudley, O.J. Mayo, and Khris Middleton are all helping to fill the void. Dudley (24 points, 10-10 FGs, 4-4 3FGs) did indeed do right on Friday by etching his name in the annals of NBA history last night, as the first player to shoot perfectly on at least 10 field goals including a minimum of three triples. Middleton was the sole Buck that struggled yesterday, but the second unit including Middleton, Dudley, Mayo, Henson and NBA FT% league-leader Jerryd Bayless outpointed Atlanta’s reserves 54-27, ensuring no Hawk players could come off the bench to seize the momentum.

The injuries in Milwaukee’s frontcourt has placed senior leader Zaza Pachulia (14 points, 8 boards, 3 steals last night, starting in place of Sanders) into the familiar situation of being pressed for more productive minutes than he ideally should be receiving. He’s appeared for 20-plus minutes in each of the Bucks’ last 11 games, after doing so for just seven of the first 16. While his floor time is still down from last season, when he filled in admirably for Sanders, the 30-year-old is now in his fourth-straight season averaging at least 20 minutes. While his trademark offensive rebounding is down, Z-Pac (3.4 assists per-36) has been useful in Kidd’s passing game, contributing at least two dimes in his last seven games. He’s also picking off passes well (career-high 1.5 steals per-36). His three steals helped contribute to an uncharacteristic 22-turnover day by the Hawks, the first this season where Atlanta turned it over at least 20 times.

When Jeff Teague’s 2013 offer sheet was matched by Atlanta, Milwaukee settled on former Piston Brandon Knight as a stopgap measure. Like Teague, Knight (18.0 PPG, 5.3 APG) has more than rewarded the Bucks as their leading scorer and passer. Under Kidd, the fourth-year guard has made greater strides defensively (career-high 1.3 SPG and 4.1 defensive RPG). He can still be erratic (3.4 TOs per game, 10^th most in NBA), but much of that issue can be attributed to the collective inexperience of his teammates (17.0 team TOs per game, 2^rd most in NBA).

But the Bucks still a scrappy bunch, scoring 18.6 PPG off of 16.6 turnovers per game (3^rd most in NBA) and pounding in 45.0 PPG in-the-paint (5^th most in NBA). They’ll overextend often enough to pile up foul calls, however (23.1 personals per game, 3^rd most in NBA; 25.8 opponent FT attempts per game, 4^th most in NBA). While Atlanta’s guards must match Knight’s and Bayless’ assertiveness in getting to the free throw line, Paul Millsap (22 points on Friday, 8-for-10 FGs) and Al Horford will have to drive more to the rim, drawing contact and and-ones to help the Hawks reignite their offense. Adreian Payne got 13 minutes in his NBA debut yesterday evening, but with Pero Antić’s continued absence, look for more of Mike Muscala and Elton Brand tonight.

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3