No. 3 Atlanta Hawks (53-29) vs. No. 6 Milwaukee Bucks (46-36)
The No. 3 seed Atlanta Hawks take on the No. 6 seed Milwaukee Bucks in a first-round, Eastern Conference playoff series. This is a best-of-7 series.
Atlanta won the season series against Milwaukee, 2-1.
What a great season for Atlanta. And, for their trouble, they now have the pressure of winning either won or two playoff series to validate their success. Here’s something to keep in mind: The Hawks enter the playoffs as arguably the healthiest playoff team in the entire league, as their starters have missed a combined total of less games than anyone else in the NBA. This team plays together so well and has coach Mike Woodson’s philosophy so embedded in its brain that it could make a huge run. Either way, they’re not getting stopped in the first round.
If only Andrew Bogut hadn’t turned his arm into a spaghetti noodle a couple of weeks agoæ.æ.æ. because when Bogut broke his arm on that dunk, so went Milwaukee’s season. Milwaukee may have been a formidable playoff team with rookie-of-the-year candidate Brandon Jennings, Jerry Stackhouse and Luke Ridnour, but now they’re just happy to be there. Still, worth watching to see Jennings play, as he can really fill it up.
The odds makers have the Hawks at -8½ -point favorites.
Atlanta just needs to do what it’s done all season; let Joe Johnson and Josh Smith do their thing and then find the other hot hand, be it Jamal Crawford, Al Horford, Mike Bibby or … even Marvin Williams sometimes. Milwaukee needs to focus its offense on Jennings and let him try to go berserker with an unequivocal green light against the Hawks, then pray somebody else steps up.
Prediction: Look for the Hawks to roll to a fairly easy series win, taking down the Bucks in five games.
Atlanta Hawks vs Milwaukee Bucks 2010 Playoff Schedule
Game 1: Sat, April 17 Milwaukee at Atlanta 5:30 pm EST on ESPN
Game 2: Tue, April 20 Milwaukee at Atlanta 7:00 pm EST on NBATV
Game 3: Sat, April 24 Atlanta at Milwaukee 7:00 pm EST on ESPN
Game 4: Mon, April 26 Atlanta at Milwaukee TBD on TBD
Game 5: Wed, April 28 Milwaukee at Atlanta TBD on TBD*
Game 6: Fri, April 30 Atlanta at Milwaukee TBD on TBD*
Game 7: Sun, May 02 Milwaukee at Atlanta TBD on TNT*
* If necessary
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