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Hawks at Bucks: the NBA's top passing team visits the league's worst point differential

Atlanta averages 31.5 assists a game, more than any other team, and 10.3 steals. Milwaukee arrives on a nine-game losing streak at 1-12.

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The interior of Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee seen from the stands: the full court with the Bucks logo at centre circle, players at the opening tip, the hanging video board and packed seating bowl with green banners in the upper ring.
Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee during a Bucks game. File photo, March 2026. © Michael Barera / Wikimedia Commons (file photo, CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Hawks play the most connected basketball in the league: 31.5 assists per game, a figure no other team matches; 10.3 steals, third in the NBA; 17.9 opponent turnovers forced, also third. On Sunday they take that style to Fiserv Forum, where the team with the worst point differential of the thirty is waiting.

Milwaukee has lost nine in a row since its only win of the season, 110-102 over Indiana on October 26. Across that run the Bucks have fallen to 106.2 points a night — the second-lowest figure in the league — while shooting 42.8% from the field, also second worst. They concede 120.2 points, the fourth-highest number in the NBA, and their minus-14.0 differential is the league's worst.

  • Competition: NBA 2026-27, regular season. Not an NBA Cup game.
  • Matchup: Atlanta Hawks at Milwaukee Bucks (official NBA game ID 0022600243).
  • Tip-off: Sunday, November 15, 7 p.m. in Milwaukee (8 p.m. ET); Monday the 16th, 01:00 UTC.
  • Venue: Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
  • Series: first meeting of 2026-27. Atlanta has won three of the last five, including both games last March.

Atlanta: the ball moves, the rim is another matter

Quin Snyder's Hawks are 7-6 and lead the Southeast Division, with a 4-3 record on the road. Ball movement is their signature: 31.5 assists per game, ahead of every other team, 53.7 points in the paint and 17.6 in transition. They are also third in the league in offensive rebounds at 13.9 and third in opponent turnovers forced.

That pressure has a name. Dyson Daniels averages 2.92 steals per game, the best mark in the NBA by a clear margin over second place, and adds 7.2 rebounds and 5.6 assists in 30.8 minutes. Jalen Johnson, who has missed three games, is at 20.0 points, 8.8 rebounds and 7.5 assists. Nickeil Alexander-Walker leads the scoring at 21.5 while shooting 35.0% on 137 three-point attempts; Onyeka Okongwu adds 13.9 points and 7.9 rebounds, CJ McCollum 14.1 and Aaron Wiggins 14.5 off the bench.

The other side of the ledger is rim protection. Atlanta allows 48.7% shooting from the field, the fifth-highest figure in the league, and gives up 116.9 points. The Hawks also arrive on a two-game skid. On Friday they lost 125-117 in overtime at Chicago despite scoring 66 points in the paint and recording 13 steals: they went 8 of 40 from three. Johnson posted a triple-double there — 27 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in 40 minutes — and McCollum added 20.

Milwaukee: nine straight losses and an offense that has stalled

Taylor Jenkins's Bucks are 1-12, 1-6 at Fiserv Forum and still without a road win. That October 26 victory over Indiana remains the only one; nine defeats have followed, four of them by fifteen points or more.

On Friday they lost 107-99 at Orlando, shooting 39% from the field, 18 of 31 from the free-throw line, with only 26 points in the paint and four in transition. Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 22 off the bench, Tyler Herro 18 on 5-of-17 shooting, Kyle Kuzma and Myles Turner 14 apiece, and Ryan Rollins pulled down 10 rebounds.

Herro leads the team at 21.6 points and 4.3 assists, with Jaquez next at 16.5 points and 5.7 rebounds. Kuzma contributes 11.1 and Rollins 10.5 with 5.1 rebounds and 3.9 assists. Turner, at 7.3 points, is the group's defensive anchor — 2.2 blocks a night — but is in a cold start to the season at 33 of 94 from the field. AJ Green, by contrast, is 23 of 54 from three, a 42.6% mark that leads the roster among the regular shooters.

One number sits awkwardly against Sunday's opponent: Milwaukee forces the third-fewest turnovers in the league at 12.5 a game and is second-lowest in steals at 6.5. This defense does not live on intercepted passes, and the team that moves the ball best is the one coming to town.

Availability

The official NBA injury report released at 4:45 p.m. ET on Saturday, November 14 lists both teams as not yet submitted for this game; the filing deadline is 5 p.m. local time the day before tip-off. The designations below come from each club's availability report as of Saturday afternoon.

Atlanta Hawks

  • Mouhamed Gueye: out — left foot fracture.
  • Keshon Gilbert: out — left knee inflammation.
  • Asa Newell: out — left toe. He has not played since November 4.
  • Henri Veesaar: out — right knee.
  • Kingston Flemings: day-to-day — back. He played 17 minutes on Friday at Chicago.

Milwaukee Bucks

The Bucks have not yet filed their report for this game, and their current availability report lists no designations. That is not the same as a fully healthy roster: Caris LeVert, Jericho Sims and Bogoljub Markovic were all coach's decisions at Orlando, according to the box score.

Atlanta's absences fall on the rotation frontcourt — Gueye, Newell and Veesaar — leaving the paint to Okongwu and Jock Landale, who had 12 points and five rebounds in 18 minutes on Friday. Flemings, a starter in five games, is the second playmaker in the group at 4.1 assists; day-to-day is not a confirmed return.

Where the game turns

The giveaway count. Atlanta forces 17.9 turnovers a game and turns the steal into a sprint: 17.6 transition points, 53.7 in the paint. Milwaukee hands over 16.6 possessions a night and conceded 21 points off turnovers at Orlando on Friday. The possession ledger will be the first scoreboard of the night.

Atlanta's perimeter shooting. The Hawks average 43.3 three-point attempts, third-highest volume in the league, at 34.1%. On Friday that number collapsed to 20% and they lost in overtime despite controlling the paint. Across from them is a defense conceding 120.2 points; if the shots fall, this one opens up early.

Turner against the visiting interior. Milwaukee's center blocks 2.2 shots a game, the best mark on the roster, and is close to the only home answer to the 53.7 points Atlanta scores inside. Okongwu averages 13.9 points on 49.6% shooting and Johnson attacks the rim off the dribble: what happens near the basket will decide whether the Bucks can stay in the game.

How to watch Hawks-Bucks

  • Venue: Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
  • Date and time: Sunday, November 15, 7 p.m. CT; Monday the 16th, 01:00 UTC.

United States — Sunday, November 15, 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT / 5 p.m. PT

  • TV: no national broadcast. In the Milwaukee market, MY24 (WCGV); in the Atlanta market, ANF (WANF) and Peachtree Sports Net (WPCH.2).
  • Streaming: Bucks+ inside the Milwaukee market and the Hawks' package on Prime Video inside the Atlanta market. Outside the local markets, NBA League Pass.
  • Radio: SiriusXM nationally, AM 620 WTMJ in Milwaukee and WZGC in Atlanta.

Australia — Monday, November 16, 12 p.m. AEDT

  • TV: not announced. The league's own game listing carries no international broadcaster for this game, and ESPN's Australian listing shows no channel for it.
  • Local times: 12 p.m. in Sydney and Melbourne, 11.30 a.m. in Adelaide, 11 a.m. in Brisbane, 9 a.m. in Perth.
  • Streaming: NBA League Pass.

United Kingdom — Monday, November 16, 1 a.m. GMT

  • TV: not announced. Sky Sports' basketball guide lists no NBA game for Sunday the 15th and only Magic at Celtics on Monday.
  • Streaming: NBA League Pass.

Atlanta won both meetings last March by comfortable margins, one of them in Milwaukee. On Sunday it brings the league's best ball movement to a defense that almost never intercepts a pass.