Johnson finds touch as Hawks swoop on Bucks

ATLANTA,  (Reuters) – Joe Johnson dug himself out  of a shooting slump with 36 points to lead the Atlanta Hawks to  a 110-85 rout of the struggling Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday.

Atlanta’s All Star guard, who entered the night with a lone  20-point effort from his last six games, racked up 28 in the  first half and finished with six three-pointers.

Wearing a special black headband to protect his scalp after  he underwent a procedure for a skin infection, Johnson just may  have found a lucky charm.

“I was supposed to change headbands at halftime, but  everybody jumped up saying, ‘no, no.’ I’m not a headband kind  of guy, but for right now I have to wear it,” Johnson told  reporters. “I was making quick moves in the post. You get a couple  easy baskets, and the basket starts to open up a little bit.”

Josh Smith added 17 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks for  the Hawks (39-28) who exploded with a 20-0 run spanning the  first and second quarters en route to a second straight win.

With the win, Atlanta moved 2.5 games behind the  fourth-place Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference.

Milwaukee (26-40), coming off an embarrassing loss to the  Boston Celtics on Sunday when they scored a franchise-worst 56  points, had 21 points and 13 rebounds from Andrew Bogut but  fell two and a half games out of the eighth and final playoff  spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Bucks had won three straight games prior to their  current two-game slide, and were knocked out early by Atlanta.

“We had trouble getting back on defense early in the game,  and we looked a little bit tired,” said Milwaukee coach Scott  Skiles. “It was just one of those games where we didn’t play  very well.”