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Martin strong as Rockets down Bucks

Jan 18, 2011 - 12:58 AM Houston, TX (Sports Network) - Kevin Martin scored a game-high 36 points to pace the Houston Rockets over the Milwaukee Bucks, 93-84.

Luis Scola added 19 points and 14 rebounds for the Rockets, who had allowed at least 100 points in each of their previous 11 games. Jordan Hill chipped in with 10 points and 10 rebounds for the victors.

"It's a weird game. You get 35 points in one quarter and then the rest of the time you struggle," Rockets head coach Rick Adelman said.

Corey Maggette finished with a season-high 25 points to pace the Bucks, who have dropped three in a row and eight of 10 overall. Drew Gooden tallied 14 points and 11 boards off the bench for Milwaukee, which got 10 points and 10 rebounds from Andrew Bogut.

The Bucks got within five, 80-75, on John Salmons' jumper with 5:42 to play. Hill stopped the bleeding with a jumper and layup around a missed Salmons jumper.

Gooden then missed another jumper for Milwaukee, and Martin capitalized with a 20-foot jumper to make it an 86-75 game with 3:55 to go.

The Bucks never got closer than seven the rest of the way.

The Rockets held an 18-15 edge after 12 minutes of action, but the Bucks came back in the second to make it 39-39 at the break.

Holding a 68-64 lead late in the third, Houston closed the stanza out on a 6-2 flurry. Aaron Brooks' jumper made it a 74-66 game heading to the fourth.

"We had tremendous trouble with Martin," Bucks head coach Scott Skiles said. "We tried a couple guys on him and didn't have a lot of luck on him."

Game Notes

Milwaukee topped the Rockets, 97-91, on December 10 at the Bradley Center, but the Rockets have won 11 of the last 13 matchups. The Bucks are winless in their previous 11 visits at the Toyota Center...Houston was without forward Patrick Patterson (flu-like symptoms/chest)...The Rockets snapped a four-game home losing streak...Milwaukee fell to 6-15 away from the Bradley Center this season...The Bucks shot 44 percent from the field, while the Rockets made just 36.8 percent of their shots...Keyon Dooling and Salmons had 12 and nine points, respectively, in defeat...Houston went 22-of-28 from the charity stripe, while Milwaukee made 5-of-11 shots from the foul line.