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Hawks pull out win in Milwaukee

Jan 24, 2012 - 5:39 AM Milwaukee, WI (Sports Network) - Josh Smith's three-pointer with 41.9 seconds left in the game put Atlanta on top for good in a back-and-forth, 97-92 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.

Smith finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds in Atlanta's sixth win in seven games. Joe Johnson scored a game-high 28 points in a contest that featured 19 lead changes and eight ties.

Brandon Jennings paced the Bucks with 21 points and 11 assists, while Mike Dunleavy added 17 points as Milwaukee suffered its fourth loss in six games.

The game entered the third quarter tied at 48 and it remained a one-possession game until Smith's jumper sparked a 12-5 run by Atlanta over the final four minutes of the frame and the Hawks took a 70-64 lead into the fourth quarter.

Milwaukee, though, battled back to knot the game at 74 apiece with a 10-4 swing over the first four minutes of the fourth.

An Ersan Ilyasova jumper followed by a pair of Drew Gooden free throws then put the Bucks up by four, and the teams traded buckets until consecutive jumpers by Johnson put Atlanta ahead, 86-84, with 1:33 to play.

After Ilyasova made 1-of-2 foul shots, Johnson struck again with a basket to put the Hawks up by three.

However, Gooden sank a trey from the right corner on Milwaukee's next touch to knot the game at 88 with 1:02 left in the game.

Atlanta then set up on the right side of the offensive zone before swinging the ball around to the left wing, where Smith sat wide open and drained a three-pointer to put the Hawks ahead for good.

"We didn't recover real well on that play, we were broke down a little bit," said Bucks head coach Scott Skiles. "Joe [Johnson] puts the pressure on you. He's legit 6-8, he collapses the defense, and he can see people. He made a nice pass out, [Jeff] Teague made a nice play, Josh knocked it down."

Dunleavy had a chance to tie the game coming out of a timeout with an open look at the top of the key, but the shot rimmed out. The Bucks did manage to grab the offensive rebound, which led to Brandon Jennings' driving layup.

But Johnson made his two free throw attempts on the other end and Dunleavy's turnover on a bad pass led to Smith's game-sealing foul shots.

Atlanta led by as much as 11 in the first quarter en route to a 28-23 advantage after one, but an early 10-2 run by the Bucks brought Milwaukee within one and a back-and-forth final six minutes of the half ended with Smith making 1-of-2 free throws for a 48-48 game at the break.

Game Notes

Atlanta improved to 5-4 on the road this season, while Milwaukee fell to 4-2 at home...Ilyasova finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Bucks...Milwaukee scored 22 points off 12 Atlanta turnovers, while the Hawks netted 14 points off 13 turnovers by the Bucks.