Hawks 115 - Bucks 96
Attendance: 14,832 Time: 2:21 box | play-by-play | recap | photos | video & audio | quotes
ATLANTA, March 26 (AP) -- Joe Johnson scored 28 points, Josh Childress added 20 and the Atlanta Hawks beat the Milwaukee Bucks 115-96 on Wednesday night to maintain the eighth and final playoff position in the Eastern Conference. The Hawks also escaped a major scare when X-rays on point guard Mike Bibby's left thumb were negative. Bibby left the game in the fourth quarter and didn't return, but trainer Wally Blase said he had a strain and would be listed as day-to-day. The Hawks, winners in five of seven, remained a half-game ahead of ninth-place New Jersey, a winner over Indiana on Wednesday night. Johnson's 3-pointer at the shot-clock buzzer made it 45-43 midway through the second to give Atlanta its first lead since 4-2. The Bucks, 6-29 on the road, never came within double figures of the lead after Marvin Williams' 20-footer made it 96-84 early in the fourth. Andrew Bogut led the Bucks with 27 points and nine rebounds, but the 7-foot center left the game after Williams accidentally hit him in the face midway through the fourth. Williams' right arm appeared to hit Bogut's nose on an inbound pass from the baseline. Bogut lay underneath the basket briefly before walking to the bench with a bloody nose.
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Larry Krystkowiak “The first half was pretty good for us, shooting 65%, and we were successful in keeping the ball out of certain guys’ hands on the defensive end. In the second half, they got a lot of points in transition, and once we got down, it just seemed like we were lackadaisical in matching up, and they started getting easy points under the basket. There are no excuses on our end. We just had some mental and physical breakdowns.”
“Michael (Redd) was getting some easy buckets in our offense early in the game, especially in the first quarter. I’m not really sure what happened after that, but they seemed to clamp down on him defensively after that point.”
Andrew Bogut 
“I’m not sure if my nose is broken yet, but after the x-rays, we’ll find out. I wanted to get back out on the floor, but obviously, with all of the blood, I couldn’t do that. Had the game been close at hat point, I probably would have gone back out there, but it made no sense at that point. There really wasn’t much defense played tonight by either team. This game was about offense, and the Hawks started getting easy baskets in transition in the second half, which is what made the difference in tonight’s game.”
Michael Redd 
"It was a little frustrating not to keep my offensive spurt going after the first quarter. It’s really kind of hard to explain. I wasn’t any less aggressive. It just didn’t work out after the first quarter. We had some good momentum in the first quarter, but after that, we never got it back, and the Hawks just kept pushing. They were aggressive, made plays, and did what they had to do to win the game. Joe (Johnson) is special. He is a great player. He got some things going for him tonight. He was able to help his team to a big win tonight.” Photos by NBAE/Getty Images
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