"Rookie point guard Brandon Jennings breathed a sigh of relief the first night he played with veteran John Salmons.

That was the February evening in Detroit that Salmons calmly drilled a clutch three-pointer in the closing moments, lifting the Bucks past the Pistons and starting the late-season run that put Milwaukee in the playoffs.

The backcourt partnership has prospered ever since and is having a major impact as the Bucks battle the Atlanta Hawks in a first-round Eastern Conference playoff series. The Hawks lead the best-of-seven series, 2-1, entering Game 4 Monday night at the Bradley Center.

Salmons and Jennings combined for 35 points and 12 assists in the Bucks' 107-89 victory in Game 3 Saturday night, with Salmons hitting 9 of 11 shots and Jennings making 5 of 11, including 3 of 6 from three-point range.

"He's a person who can create and make plays," Jennings said of the 30-year-old Salmons, acquired by the Bucks in a trade deadline deal with the Chicago Bulls. "He also takes a lot of pressure off me, for me to try to always do something.

"You can just give it to John and you can stand in the corner and take your open shot. Or you can sit there and watch him do his thing. That's something we were missing. Ever since Mike Redd went down (with an injury), we needed someone who could come in and take over for us."

Jennings never really adjusted to playing with Redd because the 10-year Bucks veteran was in and out of the lineup with a patella tendon injury early in the season."