The Atlanta Hawks came into their annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day game needing a reset - badly.
After a rough outing in their previous game, this one was about flushing the frustration and finding a rhythm. And while the final result didn’t go their way, the Hawks showed enough grit to make it a game down to the wire.
Corey Kispert got the nod in the starting lineup at small forward, marking his first start since joining Atlanta. Dyson Daniels also returned to action after missing a game, giving the backcourt a bit more juice.
Early on, though, both teams looked like they were still shaking off the cobwebs. It was a slow, scrappy start - missed shots, sloppy possessions, and very little flow.
But Daniels made his presence felt on the glass, turning offensive rebounds into second-chance points to keep the Hawks in the mix.
The energy shifted when the bench unit - CJ McCollum, Vit Krejci, and Mouhamed Gueye - checked in. They brought some much-needed spark, forcing turnovers and getting out in transition for easy buckets. That stretch gave Atlanta a brief lead, but it didn’t last long.
Outside of that burst, the first quarter was a shooting nightmare. The Hawks went 0-for-13 from beyond the arc and somehow trailed by just one, 20-19. It could’ve been a lot worse.
Unfortunately, the second quarter didn’t offer much relief. The looks from deep were there, but the shots just wouldn’t fall.
Meanwhile, Milwaukee started to find its rhythm, especially in the halfcourt. The lead ballooned to 33-21 in a hurry, and the Hawks' three-point drought kept dragging on - 0-for-20 at one point.
Defensively, Atlanta did enough to prevent the game from slipping into blowout territory, but they were still searching for any kind of offensive spark. Finally, CJ McCollum ended the long-range drought with a three just before halftime. Still, the Hawks went into the break trailing 54-38, and the numbers told the story: cold shooting and missed opportunities.
Coming out of halftime, the Hawks had nowhere to go but up in terms of perimeter shooting - and they did start connecting. But so did Milwaukee. Every time Atlanta found a rhythm, the Bucks answered right back, keeping the Hawks at arm’s length for most of the third quarter.
Midway through the third, the Hawks started to push back. Jalen Johnson chipped in with a strong two-way sequence that seemed to give the team a jolt. And as the quarter wound down, Nickeil Alexander-Walker stepped up, knocking down three free throws in the final seconds to cut the deficit to 80-72 heading into the fourth.
That set the stage for a wild finish.
Atlanta kept chipping away in the fourth, cutting the lead to six multiple times. Alexander-Walker continued to be a key factor, attacking the rim and playing with confidence. McCollum got in on the act too, hitting a couple of clutch buckets to bring the Hawks within four at 99-95 with just over three minutes to play.
Then came the seesaw. Atlanta briefly took the lead, but defensive lapses on the perimeter proved costly. AJ Green and Bobby Portis capitalized on open looks, swinging the momentum back to Milwaukee.
Still, the Hawks weren’t done. Down four in the final seconds, Alexander-Walker buried a deep, contested three to make it a one-point game. After Ryan Rollins split a pair of free throws, Atlanta had a shot to tie it or take the lead.
But on the final possession, McCollum lost control of the ball on a drive, and his rushed, off-balance shot didn’t come close. Just like that, the comeback bid fell short. Final score: 112-110, Milwaukee.
That’s four straight losses for the Hawks, and this one stings. But if there’s a silver lining, it’s that they showed fight - something they’ll need to carry forward as they look to snap out of this skid.