Bucks overcome inconsistent play to defeat Wizards
MILWAUKEE - Maybe there was one thing, above all else, that the Milwaukee Bucks could take from their stirring come-from-behind, 112-104 overtime victory over the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night at the Bradley Center:
A sense of resolve that had been missing from the team over the past few seasons.
The Bucks, after blowing an 18-point, first-quarter lead, overcame a 14-point, fourth-quarter deficit to send the game into overtime and gain a victory that improved their record to 3-2.
"Last year we definitely would have given up and lost by 30," said center Andrew Bogut, who contributed 10 points and 13 rebounds to the winning cause. "Especially when the fans started getting vocal with us and so on.
"But Coach did a good job of calling some timeouts and making sure guys stayed alert and that we could still get back in this game and we did."
Forward Richard Jefferson said the team's peaks and valleys were due to the growing pains that it was still experiencing because of all the new players and coaches.
"That (getting behind early) is not a position we want to keep putting ourselves in," he said. "We feel confident that we can play at a high level, but we're still finding our way right now as a team and we have those lulls
"We came out for a great first quarter and then struggled in the second and third but then picked it up. We had the confidence we could come back and make a game of it and fortunately we did."
Jefferson, finally playing the kind of offensive game that he has been looking for all season, got the Bucks off to a great start by scoring 14 of his game-high 32 points in the first quarter.
Point guard Luke Ridnour, coming back after missing two games with back spasms, finished with 20 points and 11 assists in 42 minutes, while backup point guard Ramon Sessions had 22 points and eight assists.
Rookie forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute was an effective closer as he played the entire fourth quarter and overtime and finished with 17 points and six rebounds.
"I thought Richard (Jefferson) was great," said coach Scott Skiles. "Mbah a Moute was great. Ridnour and Sessions . . . those four guys carried us right there."
The Bucks, though, showed again that they can be a team of many mood swings over the course of a game.
Playing superb basketball, the Bucks ran out to an 18-point, first-quarter lead only to have the Wizards totally turn the game around and outscore the Bucks, 13-0, in the last 6:34 of the second quarter to take a 45-39 halftime lead.
Washington shot 68.8 percent in the third quarter and led by 12 going into the fourth. But, down by 14 early in the fourth, it was the Bucks' turn to come back and they tied it at 96 on a fast-break dunk by Sessions with 1:16 left. After a tie at 98, Mbah a Moute missed a jumper at the regulation buzzer.
"We had a good shot at the end of regulation to win the game," said Skiles.
After two ties in overtime, the Bucks scored six straight on a fast-break dunk by Jefferson, and a layup and jumper by Mbah a Moute to take a 108-102 lead with 37.5 seconds left. Four free throws by Ridnour after that helped seal the deal.
"For the back half of the first quarter, the second and into the third we kind of appeared to be walking in sand," said Skiles. "We were moving slowly and had a hard time on both ends.
"We went small and were able to push the tempo and somehow found some energy. We could have very easily just folded that thing up. It looked like we were teetering on the edge for several possessions. Then we were able to make some big plays."
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(c) 2008, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Distributed by Mclatchy-Tribune News Service.
