MILWAUKEE -- It appears as if this Milwaukee Bucks team has a ceiling, which certainly isn't a bad thing.
But if the Bucks want to move up in the Eastern Conference standings or hang tough in a first-round playoff series against a higher seed, they need to turn competing with the NBA's best teams into a few more wins.
Milwaukee was able to overcome a 16-point deficit created by turnovers and a lack of rebounding only to watch Atlanta step back on the gas. The Eastern Conference-leading Hawks outscored the Bucks, 31-22, in the fourth quarter to pull away with a 97-86 victory at the BMO Harris Bradley Center on Sunday.
The loss snapped Milwaukee's four-game winning streak and seven-game home winning streak. It was also the Bucks' first loss by double digits since Dec. 9 at Oklahoma City, a span of 31 games.
"I don't think we did a good job in terms of the game, playing the right way," Bucks center Zaza Pachulia said. "A lot of turnovers, a lot of mistakes. We were playing hard, but we didn't play smart.
"There were a couple minutes in that stretch where we played, we shared the ball, we ran up and down, we came back. Then after that, the rest of the game I don't think we played smart. A lot of 1-on-1s, we didn't share the ball enough. Against the good teams it's hard to win."
The Bucks turned the ball over 25 times Sunday, tied for their third-most miscues in a game this season. Nine of those turnovers came in the first quarter, as Atlanta held a 22-13 advantage despite shooting just 37.0 percent.
Despite hitting 10 of 15 shot attempts in the second quarter, Milwaukee fell behind by as many as 16 points thanks to a continued inability to take care of the ball.
Atlanta scored 16 points off Milwaukee's 16 first-half turnovers, while the Hawks also turned 10 offensive rebounds into 14 second-chance points during the first half.
"Early, our starters had 15 of them," Bucks coach Jason Kidd said of the turnovers. "That's not saying the new guys didn't pitch in, but our first group has to slow down a little bit. Getting back into a rhythm after break is part of this.
"At halftime, they had 15 more shots than we did. Make or miss, we've got to take care of the ball."
To their credit, the Bucks fought back to tie the game at 64 with a 29-14 run that covered most of the third quarter. But it was all downhill from there, as Atlanta used a 17-4 spurt to regain control of the game.
Kyle Korver, who, despite being the NBA's best 3-point shooter (51.5 percent), was just 4 for 17 from beyond the arc against the Bucks this season, knocked down three triples during Atlanta's decisive run.
"We had it in striking distance," Bucks forward Jared Dudley said. "We were down two going to the fourth quarter. Korver hit three 3's during that little stretch in the fourth quarter to really give them that gap and it bolstered their spirits going from up two to 11 real fast.
"Those three 3's were simple plays. Because of the mismatches that we had -- Korver was guarding me, Millsap was guarding Giannis -- a couple of different guys were guarding Korver and he made us pay."
The Bucks have become the NBA's most surprising team by beating up on losing teams. Milwaukee is 23-6 against sub-.500 teams, while Sunday's loss dropped the Bucks to 8-18 against teams with a winning record.
Facing the Eastern Conference's best team was going to be an uphill climb for a Bucks team playing just its second game without leading scorer Brandon Knight. Add in the fact that new addition Michael Carter-Williams has yet to take the court for Milwaukee, as he is still recovering from a sprained right big toe, and a win Sunday would have been quite the upset.
Milwaukee's front office realized this current team's standing and made a trade that should help the Bucks long-term. It is too early to jump to a conclusion on the impact of the trade on this season. That can't be done until Carter-Williams has time to work into the mix.
It seems as if the first round of the playoffs was the ceiling with or without Knight, and that's not a bad thing for the Bucks. Gaining postseason experience will be critical to the development of the young core.
"To be realistic, we didn't even have a chance to practice yet with the new guys," Pachulia said. "Just no one wants to make mistakes. We've got to get better, start feeling comfortable with each other, get to know each other.
"We don't have that much time. So we have to also get locked in, pick up our game, our system defensively and offensively, because both ends of the floor is very important for us."
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