MILWAUKEE – The Portland Trail Blazers kicked off the second half on a 14-3 scoring run and led the rest of the way, defeating the Milwaukee Bucks 96-84 on Saturday night at the Bradley Center.
It was a tale of two halves for the Bucks, as Milwaukee jumped out to an early 9-0 lead, and led the entire first half. But Portland countered with a 9-0 run of their own to start the second half, outscoring the Bucks 30-17 in the third quarter.
“First half we had some defensive sequences that were as good as we’ve had all year,” Bucks coach Scott Skiles said after the game. “And then we started the third quarter flat. They picked up their level of intensity. We seemed like we wanted to ease our way into the quarter. Our defense broke down and, as so often happens when you come out like that, you can’t get it back.”
Milwaukee shot nearly 45 percent in the first half, but the third quarter proved to be their demise. The Bucks shot only 25 percent in the third on 5-20 shooting, turned the ball over six times, and were out-rebounded 14-7.
Blazers guard Steve Blake scored 12 of his 21 in the third quarter. He also tied his season-high with six three-pointers in the game, three of which came in the third quarter.
“For whatever reason, and we’ve done this a bunch of times this year, we come out to start the half and don’t have much,” Skiles said. “In the third quarter, we were very casual, very careless. It’s very difficult then once the momentum starts going to get it back.”
Frustration began to boil over for Milwaukee in the second half, as both Keith Bogans and Scott Skiles were issued technical fouls for arguing with the officials.
Portland head coach Nate McMillan sensed the momentum shifting to his team.
“They turned the ball over five times in the third quarter early, and we scored off of that,” McMillan said after the game. “We kept our heads with the physical play. We played through it and we executed, and we had a 30-point quarter.”
Charlie Villanueva scored 20 of his team-high 26 points in the second half, and also led the Bucks with nine rebounds.
Richard Jefferson added 16 points for Milwaukee, but was disappointed with his play.
“I haven’t played as well as I would’ve liked in the second half,” Jefferson said. “I have to play better down the stretch, and I haven’t done that the past few games.”
Jefferson added, “We didn’t come out and play the way we needed to. Steve Blake hit some big shots. I think they kinda took the momentum going into the second half and just carried it over.”
Portland’s two-time All-Star Brandon Roy had a game-high 30 points, and also contributed eight rebounds and a team-high seven assists.
“He (Roy) is a very good player,” Bucks rookie Luc Richard Mbah a Moute said, who guarded Roy most of the game. “We put a lot of pressure on him, but he made tough shots. He just had a good night tonight.”
Portland coach Nate McMillan said, “In the first half, he (Roy) could not hit a shot and I told him to stay with it. We need him to play well, and he stayed with it. He was able to get one to go, got his confidence, and started to open up that floor.”
Starting in place of former number one overall pick Greg Oden, former Buck Joel Przybilla had a game-high 14 rebounds.
Oden appeared in his third game back tonight after injuring his left knee in February. Coming off the bench, he scored two points and grabbed three rebounds, but also had four turnovers and five fouls in just over nine minutes on the floor.
With the loss, the Bucks concluded their season-long six-game home stand with a 2-4 record, but Richard Jefferson didn’t sound too discouraged.
“Look at the home stand, look at the people that we played against,” Jefferson said. “We played against some quality teams. We didn’t play as well as we would have liked. Just because we didn’t get it done tonight, I still think that we have positive things that we’ve done here.”
Milwaukee drops to 31-40 on the season with 11 games to go, but did not lose any ground in their attempt to re-claim the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference, as Chicago and Charlotte also each lost. The Bucks remain one and a half games back of Chicago for the final spot in the East, and now head on a four-game road trip to Toronto, Orlando, Miami, and New Jersey. The team has three full days of rest before the game in Toronto on Wednesday night.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment