BRANDON A BUSY BUCK – Brandon Jennings has indeed been one busy Buck, as one of two Bucks to play in all
86 games this year (Luke Ridnour is the other). By playing in tonight’s contests, Jennings will equal Andrew Bogut’s
87 games in 2005-06 for the most games played by a rookie since that season. Jennings is the only Bucks player
in the last 40 years to start all 82 games as a rookie (our start records only date back to ’70-71). The rookie point
guard is second on the Bucks in scoring in his debut playoff series, leading all rookies with 19.8 points on 46.3
percent shooting (31-67), including 38.1 percent (8-21) from long distance. Jennings also leads all rookies in
assists (4.0) and is second in steals (1.3) and tied for second in blocks (0.8). His six assists on Monday represent
his highest total of the postseason. The Young Buck poured in 34 points in Game One, tied for the fourth most by a
rookie in his playoff debut and just two off of the record for most points in a rookie’s first postseason game.
DEER IN THE SPOTLIGHT – The Bucks don’t plan on looking like deer in headlights as they enter the spotlight
tonight for their first game on TNT this season. It’s the first TNT game for the Bucks since May 3, 2006, when they
were eliminated at the hands of the Detroit Pistons in Game Five of the Eastern Conference First Round.
PLENTY OF FISH – The Bucks have gotten plenty of offense from John Salmons, also known as “The Fish,” during
the 2010 playoffs as the team continues to make dates for additional games. The Bucks shooting guard has been
going steady throughout the playoffs, scoring 16, 21, 22 and 22 in the first four games and leads the team with
20.7 points to go with 4.0 assists and 2.8 rebounds and 2.3 steals. His six steals in Game One remain an NBA
postseason-high. Milwaukee ended the regular season with a 22-8 (.733) record after acquiring Salmons at the
trade deadline, with the shooting guard averaging a team-high 19.9 points with 3.2 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 1.1
steals.
FEAR THE DEER – Believe it or not, for all of the popularity the Bucks unofficial “Fear the Dear” slogan has received, tonight it makes its first appearance in
the Bucks game notes. The Bucks have put fear into the Hawks after taking the last two games in Milwaukee, winning consecutive playoff games for the first
time since winning Games Two and Three against the 76ers in the 2001 Eastern Conference Finals. This is the club’s 26th playoff berth in franchise history,
and first since the 2005-06 season, and the Bucks are 103-112 (.479) all-time in postseason play.
MORE THAN FINE OFF THE PINE – The Bucks reserves deserve some praise for their recent play as they are outscoring the Hawks 137-90 (34.3-22.5)
through four games, beating Atlanta’s reserves in three of the four contests. Ersan Ilyasova’s 11.5 points lead the Bucks off the pine, while Jerry Stackhous
has added 9.8 and Luke Ridnour has contributed 7.8. Dan Gadzuric is off to a strong postseason start, pulling in 5.3 rebounds per game.
POSTSEASON’S GREETINGS – In addition to Brandon Jennings, a pair of second-year Bucks are having success in their first career postseasons. Luc
Richard Mbah a Moute has said hello to the playoffs by starting all four contests and averaging 9.5 points and 5.0 rebounds. Meanwhile, Ersan Ilyasova is
averaging 11.5 points per game in the series and is one of only two Bucks to score double-figures in all four games thus far (Salmons is the other). Ilyasova
is also grabbing 7.8 rebounds per tilt, second on the team, in his first postseason.
IMPRESSIVE IMPROVEMENTS – The Bucks made the largest improvement in the East this season and third-best in the NBA, winning 12 more games than
they won last year (34-48 in 2008-09). From the 2007-08 season, the Bucks have improved on their 26-56 record by 20 games. Milwaukee’s 46 wins are
their most wins since going 52-30 in the 2000-01 season. The Bucks also won 30 games (31-21) against the Eastern Conference for the first time since
posting a 33-21 mark in 2003-04 and their 22 wins (22-9) since the All-Star break are their most post-break since going 23-12 in 2000-01.
- The Bucks mourn the passing of former player Kevin Restani, who died Sunday night at the age of 58. Restani,
who attended the Bucks-Hawks tilt on Saturday, played in 311 games for Milwaukee in five years from 1974-
75 to 78-79, averaging 6.0 points per game during his stint with the Bucks.
- The Bucks are 29-37 (.439) overall in the Eastern Conference First Round with a 9-27 (.250) road record.
Milwaukee has a 6-8 series record in their previous 14 Eastern Conference First Round matchups.
- The Bucks are .500 all-time in Game Five with a 14-14 record. With wins on Saturday and Monday, the Bucks
now hold .500 records all-time in Games Three, Four and Five.
- The Bucks earned sellouts in both of their home playoff games, giving them seven total this season. In all,
656,887 fans have turned out to watch the Bucks in 43 home games this year.
- The Bucks have been all over the offensive glass in the postseason and are tied for second in the NBA with
12.0 offensive boards per tilt. They have limited the Hawks to 25.3 defensive boards, the fewest in the NBA.
- Milwaukee holds a 66-50 (16.5-12.5) advantage on second chance points over Atlanta, winning the category
in all three of four games thus far.
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