Instant Takeaways From The Hawks Win Over The Milwaukee Bucks

The Hawks remain the hottest team in the NBA today with a blowout win over the Milwaukee Bucks.

Atlanta got their ninth straight win today, winning big over the Bucks and they improved their record to 36-31, inching closer and closer to the top six of the standings.

Here are the biggest takeaways from today's win.

1. Winning streak extended

The longest winning streak in the NBA continued today with the Hawks' win over the Bucks. Not only that, but the Hawks have now won the season series against Milwaukee and would own the tiebreaker over the Bucks, though it is not going to come to that.

This is the longest winning streak for the Hawks since their 2014-2015 season, arguably the best season in franchise history. That team would have a winning streak of 19 games, won a franchise record 60 games, and made the franchise's first ever trip to the conference finals.

This team has a long way to go if they want to reach the latter part of that, but they have put themselves in a position to be a top six seed in the Eastern Conference and the game on Monday against Orlando is going to be the biggest game of the season for the Hawks.

2. Hawks defense creates havoc

Atlanta has one of the best defensive ratings in the NBA since the All-Star Break and today they took advantage of a Bucks team that did not have a lot of offensive firepower.

Atlanta created 20 turnovers today and scored 30 points off of those turnovers. Dyson Daniels and NIckeil Alexander-Walker had three steals each and the Hawks were fortunate that Milwaukee was careless with the ball.

If the Hawks can continue to play defense like this heading into an important game against Orlando, look out.

3. Big game from CJ McCollum

CJ McCollum has been a welcome addition to the Hawks since he was acquired in the Trae Young trade and he was huge in the win today.

McCollum finished the game with 30 points and shot 10-18 from the field and 7-10 from three. He has been a great fit in the starting five since moving in there at the start of this winning streak, and he gives the Hawks a veteran presence as a scorer.

4. Solid bench minutes

The bench has been a sore spot for the Hawks in this winning streak, but they had a better performance today, without Jonathan Kuminga. The Hawks' bench outscored Milwaukee's 37-33 and got 23 combined points from Jock Landale and Corey Kispert, as well as seven points and six rebounds from Zaccharie Risacher.

It was not perfect today, but this is the kind of effort that the Hawks need from those three guys. Kispert and Landale have struggled on defense, and they were not great on that end tonight, but they were effective and made their presence felt. It feels like the bench play might be the deciding factor in the Hawks' ability to continue this run late into the season.