CHICAGO — Milwaukee Bucks point guard Earl Boykins has been suspended for Tuesday night’s game against the Chicago Bulls for making “intentional contact with a game official,” according to the league. The incident occurred at the end of the third quarter on Monday night during the Bucks 95-80 loss to the Atlanta Hawks.

“It’s unfortunate,” Bucks head coach Scott Skiles said before the game. “He didn’t mean it. It was kind of incidental contact. But on the other hand, the league’s very clear about that and I understand it. They don’t want guys having contact with officials, I think that’s fair and it’s just one of those unfortunate things. It just happened.”

Boykins was very apologetic immediately after the incident and Skiles believes that may have saved Boykins from receiving an even harsher penalty.

“I was up at halfcourt right when it happened and Earl apologized the very second it happened and apologized again to Brian [Forte]. The league knows that Earl’s not, in any way, a malicious character out there or anything like that. But on the other hand, they have rules that, there’s a line you can’t cross and we understand that as well.”

Nick Friedell covers the Bulls for ESPNChicago.com and ESPN 1000.

NEW YORK, December 28, 2010 – Earl Boykins of the Milwaukee Bucks has been suspended one game without pay for making intentional contact with a game official, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

The incident occurred with 5.3 seconds remaining in the 3rd period of the Bucks’ 95-80 loss to the Atlanta Hawks at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee on Monday, Dec. 27.

Boykins will serve his suspension tonight when the Bucks face the Chicago Bulls at the United Center in Chicago.

MILWAUKEE — Al Horford and the Hawks opened a huge early lead by knocking down shot after shot. The Bucks tried to rally, but Atlanta responded each time.

Back in Milwaukee, the Hawks were impressive again.

Horford had 18 points and 12 rebounds, Joe Johnson added 15 points and Atlanta beat Milwaukee 95-80 on Monday night to snap a five-game road losing streak.

“It’s nice to watch when we’re sharing the ball, different guys are getting involved. When we play like that, it seems like we’re at our best,” Horford said.

The Hawks (20-13) returned to Milwaukee for the first time since winning a pivotal Game 6 in the first round of the playoffs last season to send the series back to Atlanta, where they won to advance.

They got it done this time by opening a double-digit lead in the first quarter and shooting 50.7 percent from the field for the game.

“There’s going to be some games where it’s going to take grinding it out, being a little bit more selective on the offensive end and doing a good job in transition, not allowing the opposition to get that running game going,” Hawks coach Larry Drew said.

John Salmons scored 18 for the Bucks, who struggled in their first home game after a successful Western Conference trip.

Milwaukee (12-17) put together an 8-1 run in the second half to close to 61-53, but Josh Smith, who finished with 13 points, responded with a jumper that restored Atlanta’s double-digit lead.

Salmons, who had 12 points in the third, hit a three that cut it to 69-62, but the Bucks’ rally fizzled. Marvin Williams made a long jumper and Johnson added a fadeaway that made it 77-67 heading into the fourth.

Milwaukee failed to mount a run in the final quarter, and the lackluster play continued.

The Bucks shot 37.3 percent from the field and went four-for-15 from three-point range.

Andrew Bogut finished with 14 points on 7-of-19 shooting and had 11 rebounds, but was frustrated about the poor defensive effort.

“That’s it right there,” Bogut said. “I’ll even give you a quote on that: ‘When we let teams shoot a high percentage, we lose.”‘

Milwaukee is 0-6 this year when allowing opponents to shoot 50 percent or better.

Smith, not well liked in Milwaukee after his comments about the city during the postseason, didn’t even have his name announced correctly at one point, being called “Josh Howard” by the public address announcer.

“We had a big letdown yesterday in New Orleans and we wanted to just come out and establish ourselves on the defensive end,” Smith said. “Grinding, stopping the momentum, keeping the crowd out of it, that’s the big factor.”

The Hawks returned all their main players from last year but Drew took over for Mike Woodson. Drew has tried to change up the offensive schemes to keep Atlanta from being predictable.

It certainly looked as if Milwaukee had no idea what the Hawks were doing despite coming in as one of the best defenses in the league and winning two of three on a Western Conference trip that included a victory over the Lakers.

“We were searching most of the night, trying to find anything that would work with any consistency,” Bucks coach Scott Skiles said. “We weren’t able to find it.”

Smith scored eight points early and Atlanta grabbed a 52-35 lead on Smith’s alley-oop dunk from Johnson. Johnson hit a runner in the lane that made it 57-39.

Milwaukee was without several key pieces again.

Brandon Jennings is out at least three more weeks after left foot surgery. Drew Gooden is dealing with his own left foot injury that’s caused him to miss three games and nine of the last 14. Carlos Delfino hasn’t played since early November with lingering symptoms of a concussion.

“The Bucks have some guys that were out, that factors in,” Horford said. “But, we’ll take the win.”

Notes

Williams and Jamal Crawford each had 14 points. … Giants DE Justin Tuck was at the game with New York stuck in Wisconsin for the third straight night. … Smith was booed virtually every time he touched the ball. Smith said there was nothing to do in Milwaukee during the previous playoff series and became one of the fans’ top targets. … The Hawks assigned F Pape Sy to Utah of NBA Development League. … Milwaukee takes the short road trip to Chicago to play the Bulls on Tuesday night. … The Bucks hope Gooden can return Jan. 1 against the Mavericks. … Atlanta lost 93-86 to the Hornets on Sunday night.

Earl Boykins(notes) may be a journeyman guard, but he is more than keeping the Milwaukee Bucks afloat during the extended absence of Brandon Jennings(notes).

Boykins looks for another big effort as the Bucks seek a third consecutive win Monday night at home against the Atlanta Hawks.

Milwaukee (12-16) appeared to be in serious trouble when Jennings was ruled out for up to six weeks after undergoing foot surgery last Monday. The injury left the Bucks without their point guard and team leader with averages of 17.9 points and 5.5 assists.

A 12-year veteran who has played for nine teams, the 5-foot-5 Boykins has softened the blow of Jennings’ absence with a sudden increase in scoring and playing time. He’s helped Milwaukee in position for its third three-game winning streak of the season.

Boykins scored 19 points while playing a season-high 29:03 in an 84-79 victory at Sacramento on Thursday. That performance came two nights after he had a season-best 22 points in a stunning 98-79 upset of the two-time reigning NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers.

He totaled 53 points over his first 16 games of 2010-11, while never taking more than eight shots.

“My teammates have confidence in me. They were willing to give me the ball,” Boykins said after going 9 for 17 from the field Thursday. “They were setting great screens for me and that’s how I was getting open. Coach is going to play guys who are playing well. I just happened to be playing well, but the difference was defense.”

The Bucks, allowing 92.6 points per game, rank among the NBA’s top best defensive teams. However, that success has been undermined by scoring a league-low 91.2 points per contest. Milwaukee is 1-6 when opponents top 100 points.

With Jennings out for an extended period, the Bucks are hoping Corey Maggette(notes) (concussion-like symptoms) and Drew Gooden(notes) (plantar faciitis) can return from injuries after missing three and two games, respectively.

Maggette made 7 of 8 shots for 20 points while Boykins had seven in a 108-91 win at Atlanta on Nov. 10.

The Hawks have dropped their last five road games, including an 93-86 loss to New Orleans on Sunday to open a stretch of six games out of seven away from home.

Atlanta last lost six consecutive road games March 17-April 7, which included a 98-95 defeat at Milwaukee on March 22. The Hawks won 104-96 in their last visit to the Bradley Center on April 12.

A better performance from Al Horford(notes) would help Atlanta’s cause. Horford, who leads the Hawks with averages of 16.6 points and 9.6 rebounds, struggled to finish with eight points and six boards Sunday against the Hornets.

Horford had 14 points and six rebounds versus Milwaukee last month.