A Veteran's Guidance 04.21.10 - 02:33pm

Jerry Stackhouse shot the lights out to help the Milwaukee Bucks keep pace with the vaunted Atlanta Hawks scoring attack in Game 2 on Tuesday. But the Bucks couldn't come up with enough offense around him to even the series.

Jerry was one of just three Milwaukee players to reach double figures on the scoreboard in the team’s 96-86 Game 2 loss to the Hawks Tuesday.

Stack finished with 15 points on Tuesday night (Getty Images).

While Josh Smith and Joe Johnson had big games for the Hawks, Stack did his best to keep the game close, connecting for 15 points on five-of-eight shooting including 2-3 from beyond the arc. Behind Smith and Johnson, the Hawks took game two but Stack said that’s just what they’re supposed to do, as he told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

"We can’t be discouraged. They’re the No. 3 team in the Eastern Conference and they’re on their home court. They did what they’re supposed to do."

The Bucks were down just six points at halftime, but thanks to an 11-2 run by the Hawks to start the third quarter, the Bucks once again found themselves fighting back.

No. 24 said Milwaukee's cold spells are preventing the Hawks from playing with a sense of urgency. In order to succeed, the Bucks will have to put pressure on Atlanta and keep it there:

"They’re playing well, no doubt about that. But I just don’t think we’ve been in a position to force them to play with any pressure," Stack told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "They’ve had a pretty comfortable lead, especially going down the stretch of games, where they can play loose and take and make shots. There are some things that we’ve just got to look ourselves in the mirror and say we could be doing better."

Jerry was on point Tuesday night, and Frank Madden of Brew Hoop took notice. Madden noted Stack in his Three Bucks section of Tuesday’s game recap:

"Jerry Stackhouse: 24 min, 15 pts, 5/8 fg, 2/3 threes, 3/4 ft, 4 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk, 0 to. He also did it in versatile fashion, burying a couple threes but also getting to the rack on a handful of occasions—yes, there was even a drive and dunk in the third quarter. He was also part of the largely unsuccessful defense-by-committee approach on JJ in the fourth, but I thought he hung in surprisingly well against Johnson for most of the night."

NEXT UP

The Bucks get a chance to even the series with two home games at the Bradley Center, but will need a big win in Game 3 on Saturday to put some pressure on the Hawks. Tip-off is at 6:00 CST and you can see all the action on ESPN.
 

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