Atllanta Hawks

Hawks give up series lead in Game 3 of Conference Finals

ATLANTA — The Hawks couldn’t pull off a win Sunday night to regain their lead in the Eastern Conference Finals.

After a tight win in Game 1 and a blowout loss in Game 2, the Hawks fell to the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 3, giving the Bucks the lead in the best-of-seven series 2-1.

The final score of Sunday night’s game at State Farm Arena was 113-102.

The Hawks led for a good portion of the game, but fell behind in the fourth quarter after Trae Young suffered an ankle injury in the third quarter.

Friday night’s Game 2 was not kind to the Hawks as they were run out of the gym by the Bucks in a 125-91 loss. Nothing really clicked for the Hawks as Milwaukee’s defense clamped down on Trae Young and the Hawks could not get on track.

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Game 3 tipped off in front of an expected sellout crowd at State Farm Arena.

One good note to come out of Game 2 for Atlanta was the return of Cam Reddish. Reddish had been out, injured, for most of the season and was not expected to contribute much during the Hawks playoff run.

Friday night, he got 17 minutes of game action and scored 11 points.

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The Bucks were once again led in Game 2 by star forward Giannis Antentokounmpo. The “Greek Freak” dazzled in Game 2 with a variety of running, spinning layups. He had 25 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists in the game.

Milwaukee made some adjustments during the game on defense, stepping up to limit Young’s patented drives to the basket, forcing him to make decisions much earlier about whether to shoot, throw a lob pass or kick the ball back out to someone on the perimeter.

The problem with the perimeter is the Hawks shot 26-percent from the three point line during Game 2, limiting there ability to score. When mixed with 19 turnovers during the game and you get the picture as to why the Hawks were beaten so badly.

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The winner of this series will play the winner of the Phoenix Suns vs. Los Angeles Clippers Western Conference finals series. The Suns currently have a commanding 3-1 lead out west.

Here is a look at the remaining schedule for the Hawks vs. Bucks series:

  • Game 4: Tuesday Night at 8:30 p.m. in Atlanta
  • Game 5: Thursday Night at 8:30 p.m. in Milwaukee
  • Game 6: (If necessary), Saturday Night at 8:30 p.m. in Atlanta
  • Game 7: (If necessary), Monday Night July 5 at 8:30 p.m. in Milwaukee