The last time that the Atlanta Hawks and the Milwaukee Bucks tried to play a basketball game in Atlanta, people were ice skating down Peachtree Street. Although the weather outside may be only a little less frightful early on a rainy early Tuesday morning in the ATL, there's no doubt they'll get the rescheduled game in.
Jeff Teague looks to build on his career-best tying performance as the Hawks battle the Bucks at Philips Arena (7:00 p.m., SportSouth, 97.9 FM) in a game that you shouldn't have a problem at all finding a seat.
This one is a "regular guy's" dream. You know -- those types of games in baseball where the game is rained out and some of those pricey seats that those swarmy know-it-all overpaid corporate-type folks that don't know the difference between a double play, double down and a daily double invade on a regular basis suddenly become available. (And we all know most of those corporate folk get those seats -- not for the love of the game -- but as some sort of status symbol: kinda like their trophy wife, hot little nanny or their fancy Mercedes SL65 AMG Roadster).
Well, as of right now, some of the better seats in Philips Arena are available for this one -- even in club level. And if you somehow have like a grand or so to burn, you too, can be living the High Life (and then drinking one after the game).
This is the first makeup game in Atlanta at least 13 years for the Hawks. And more likely than not, there has never been a rescheduled basketball game here. (From my memory and the Atlanta PR staff's memory, no games were ever cancelled when the Hawks played at the Georgia Dome, Georgia Tech or Philips Arena -- that is until this season. The records could not be verified past then at the time of the cancellation of the Jan. 11 game).
It is not, however, the first time that a game will be decided on a day other than when it was initially supposed to be played here.
Hawks fans remember all too well that contest between the Miami Heat and the Hawks on Dec. 19, 2007. In that one, the Hawks scorekeepers improperly gave Shaquille O'Neal an extra foul and claimed that he fouled out of the game in OT. Of course, he did not.
Whoops.
Miami protested. The league ordered that the last 51.9 seconds replayed the next time the Heat came to town.
Atlanta won the OT game and the nightcap of a rare basketball quasi-double header to take over the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference on March 8, 2008.
Bucks fans are looking for some similar magic on Tuesday. The team is very much in the playoff hunt for the eighth and final spot in the East and will enter play 1-1/2 games behind the Indiana Pacers and the Charlotte Bobcats for the last ticket to the dance.
They were playing very good basketball, winning three straight before heading to Boston on Sunday, where -- quite frankly -- they had that look of a deer caught up in the middle of the road staring at the glare some headlights from oncoming traffic. The Boston Celtics held Milwaukee to a franchise-low 56 points in a 29 point demolition as the Bucks went splat.
Milwaukee has had problems generating offense this season. It is last in the league in points-per-game (91.2) and field-goal percentage (42.5). If the Hawks defense decides to show up on Tuesday, the Bucks could be in for a long night.
However, it's not like Atlanta has been playing great basketball either of late. The Hawks dropped 10 of 14 before snapping a four-game losing streak with a 91-82 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday. Teague was the star for a shorthanded team, posting a game-high 24 for Atlanta, which was without Al Horford (sprained left ankle).
Horford practiced with the team on Monday and should play on Tuesday.
The news may not be the same for reserve C/F Josh Powell, who was arrested before Saturday's game for blocking traffic by the arena while an ambulance was trying to get through. He spent the night in jail while waiting to be arraigned on felony Obstruction of an Officer charges.
While Powell has since been released from prison, the team has not released a statement as to what, if any, disciplinary action the former Riverdale High School standout faces.
Atlanta will also try to solve the riddle of where Joe Johnson's points have gone. The Hawks All-Star is averaging just over 14 points over his last 15 games.
Milwaukee will be looking take the four-game set from Atlanta. The Bucks have won two-of-three games in the series, including a 90-85 win here on Dec. 27.