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Bogut, Redd help Bucks defeat Hawks

Jan 17, 2008 - 5:11 AM By Nick Berenz PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

MILWAUKEE (Ticker) -- Andrew Bogut continued his strong play with 21 points and 10 rebounds and Michael Redd chipped in 17 points to help lead the shorthanded Milwaukee Bucks to a 87-80 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday.

Rookie Yi Jianlian chipped in with 16 and nine boards for Milwaukee, which snapped a three-game losing streak.

The Bucks were also playing without second leading scorer, Mo Williams, who was inactive with flu-like symptoms.

Bogut, who had his third consecutive double-double, scored the final two field goals of the game to help seal the win.

"Coach said he wanted the ball into me more and to hear a coach say that gives you great confidence," Bogut said. "I'm not too concerned about stats but, if we're winning like this, I'll take it."

Both teams played it close in the first half with neither leading by more than six as the half ended tie at 45-45. Redd and Yi led Milwaukee with 10 apiece while Josh Smith paced Atlanta with 10.

But both teams had a poor shooting third quarter with the Bucks shooting 7-of-22 while the Hawks went 7-of-18.

"We had balance tonight even if we didn't shoot the ball particularly well," Redd said. "We've got enough talent on this team to win even if we don't shoot well."

The cold shooting continued for both teams as the score was knotted at 65-65, entering the final quarter.

Despite making just 10 shots from the field in the fourth, the Bucks had their largest lead at 81-74 with 2:15 remaining on a jumper by Royal Ivey.

Ivey got the start in place of the under-the-weather Williams and made the most of it with nine points, eight rebounds and six assists in 36 minutes.

"Coach had been preaching defense, defense, defense and it's starting to stick now," Ivey said. "If we play 'D,' everything else will come, and it did tonight."

The Hawks, who didn't make a field goal for the first 10:56 of the quarter, cut their deficit to 81-77 on a 3-pointer by Anthony Johnson with 64 seconds remaining.

However, trailing by three with under 30 seconds left after a Bucks' turnover, Johnson stepped on the out-of-bounds line along the left sideline while lining up for a game-tying 3-point attempt with 22 ticks on the clock.

"We just had too many breakdowns in the fourth and didn't get it done," Hawks coach Mike Woodson said. "Offensively, we were out of sync. It was like we were in quicksand and a step behind tonight."

Bogut threw down a dunk with 20.2 seconds remaining - his second straight crucial bucket - and Redd's two foul shots with 13 seconds remaining closed out the scoring for Milwaukee, which shot 38 percent (33-of-87).

"It was a great defensive effort, we were just really scrambling around," Bucks coach Larry Krystkowiak said. "There wasn't a whole lot of scheming, just good old-fashioned playground basketball where we were just trying to keep guys in front of us and fight."

Marvin Williams scored 22 points and Smith had 19, nine rebounds and seven blocks for Atlanta, which has dropped 18 of its last 20 at the Bradley Center since the 1998-99 season.

"We worked hard for the most part, but you play 19 seconds of the shot clock, make them miss, only to give up an offensive rebound every time is tough," Williams said. "Every time we went on a run, they came right back and made it tough for us."

The Hawks, who shot just 37 percent (27-of-74), have yet to eclipse the 100-point mark away from Philips Arena this season.