The Atlanta Hawks look to figure out a way to win on the road. They will have to beat a surging Milwaukee Bucks team if they want that skid to stop before it gets to six.
Joe Johnson, Al Horford and the Hawks head to Wisconsin to take on the Bucks at the Bradley Center on Monday (8:00 PM, SportSouth, 97.9 FM).
As much as Atlanta (19-13) has excelled at Philips Arena of late, winning eight straight, the Jekyll-and-Hyde Hawks have struggled on the highway, dropping five straight games including some terrible setbacks to the struggling Detroit Pistons and New Jersey Nets.
Atlanta extended the streak with a disappointing 93-86 loss to the New Orleans Hornets on Sunday. The Hawks came out of the gate strong and lead by nine at the half. But a different basketball team emerged in the second half -- one that couldn't solve Chris Paul on the pick-and-roll. The end result was all-too-familiar.
Meanwhile, Milwaukee returned home for its Christmas break with a pair of wins over the Sacramento Kings and the reigning NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers. Earl Boykins, who took control in the absence of Brandon Jennings, posting 22 points in the 98-79 stunner of a Lakers team that was caught looking ahead to its Christmas day matchup against LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat.
Boykins followed up his performance against Los Angeles with 19 points in a season-high 29 minutes in the Bucks' 84-79 win over the Kings on Thursday. Milwaukee has been home resting ever since.
The Bucks come into this one as one of the better defending teams in the league, averaging 92.6 points per game. But they have trouble scoring and are last in the league, posting just 91.2 points per contest. Milwaukee is 1-6 when allowing more than 100 points in a game.
Milwaukee hopes that Corey Maggette (concussion) and Drew Gooden (plantar facitis) can return to action on Monday.