The Atlanta Hawks could not dominate the Bucks 2 games in a row. Now they are just one game away from getting eliminated as they are down 3-2 in the series. The defensive liabilities were on full display as Brook Lopez absolutely dominated the paint.
Scoring was not a problem for Atlanta but being efficient was. Even though they had 4 players who scored more than 17 points, as a team they shot only 45%. They were outscored huge in the first quarter and could never recover from that. The Hawks never took a single lead and at one point were down by 20.
Even though the Hawks had better percentages, the were absolutely dominated in the paint. They scored 36 points in comparison to the Bucks’s 66. John Collins scored 19 and 8 but just could defend anything. The star of last game, Lou Williams scored 17 points on 53% from the field. Bogdan Bogdanovic had another 20+ point game tonight. He scored 28 points and got 5 rebounds.
But a stand out performance for me was Danilo Gallinari’s and that’s why he’s our ‘Underdog of the Night‘.
Also Read: When Was the Last time the Atlanta Hawks Made the NBA Finals?
The Underdog Performance of The Atlanta Hawks Foward
If even one of the Hawks players played good defense, they would be here instead of Gallinari. But to make the best of a bad situation, Danilo scored 19 points off the bench. He has now scored double figure points for the 11th time this postseason. That number is the highest in the NBA.
Danilo Gallinari has reached double figures for the 11th time this postseason, the most off the bench in the 2021 NBA Playoffs (Jordan Clarkson, 10).
— Hawks PR (@HawksPR) July 2, 2021
He was also extremely aggressive as he drew the most fouls and attempted a team high 7 free throws. Gallinari also made all his 7 FT’s. Danilo was brought in by the Hawks after his amazing stints at the Clippers and the Thunder.
A veteran who helps this team get better off the bench. He has averaged just 12 points in this playoffs but upped his scoring in Trae‘s absence. We hope to see more of this deep Hawks team show up in Game 6 or else they will be going home.
https://youtu.be/_4_ppdPLo78?t=37
The Milwaukee Bucks are just one win away from ending the Hawks season so they better get their inside defense fixed before it’s too late.
Also Read: Underdog of The Eastern Conference Finals Game 5: Brook Lopez of the Milwaukee Bucks