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Williams helps Bucks edge Wizards

Jan 28, 2008 - 2:58 AM MILWAUKEE (Ticker) -- Playing shorthanded, the Milwaukee Bucks picked up contributions from a variety of players and overcame Caron Butler and the visiting Washington Wizards, 105-102, in overtime on Sunday at the Bradley Center.

Mo Williams made a pair of key 3-pointers just 32 seconds apart in overtime and guard Charlie Bell finished with 22 points and six assists off the bench for Milwaukee, which overcame a disastrous fourth-quarter collapse to prevail.

The Bucks were playing without the services of Michael Redd, who was suffering from a left knee strain, and reserve forward Charlie Villanueva, who was nursing a sore back.

"I think this says a lot about those guys who were on the floor tonight," Williams aid. "We had it from everywhere, 1-to-12. ... I think we showed a lot of pride today."

Milwaukee had just enough to stave off Butler, who had a career-high 40 points - including 29 in the second half.

"It was real fun," said Butler, a native of nearby Racine, Wisconsin. "It would have been a little better with the win, but obviously being back in front of the home crowd - my mom's watching courtside and smiling - it was a great feeling."

Butler also ran his franchise-record consecutive free throws made streak to 70, the longest streak since Sam Cassell made 71 in 2004. Michael Williams of Minnesota holds the NBA record with 97, also set over two seasons in 1993.

Milwaukee looked to have this game sewn up in regulation, but Washington went on an 11-0 run - highlighted by a pair of 3-pointers by DeShawn Stevenson - in a 74-second span to erase an 11-point deficit with 20.2 seconds left.

"It was a heck of a comeback," Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said. "I came back to the bench with about 1:40 to go, and I said, 'You know what? I'm going to leave these guys (the starters) in there and see if they can eke something out, I'm not taking them out.' And they did."

Butler grabbed a rebound off a missed free throw and converted for a game-tying layup - the second consecutive missed free throw and basket for Washington - to tie the score with 20 seconds to play.

A failed 3-pointer by Mo Williams at the buzzer pushed the game into overtime.

After the Wizards took a 99-95 lead in the extra session and had possession, Williams canned his first of back-to-back 3-pointers from the corner, then added the go-ahead strike from the top of the key with 47.6 seconds remaining. Butler's 3-pointer with under three seconds to play added anxious moments, but Williams hit two more free throws to preserve victory.

"We talked about this being one of those defining moments where you do whatever you need to do to muster up some energy and courage to put an end to it," Bucks coach Larry Krystkowiak said. "We just never quit. The guys hung in there the whole time."

Said Butler, "We thought we had a good chance to win the game. Mo Williams, he's a (heck) of a clutch player, and he hit some big shots when he got open. It was a gut check. The same sense of urgency we played with in the fourth quarter, we should have played the entire game. But that happens sometimes. They hit some real big shots.

"Milwaukee, they were resilient in the overtime."

Royal Ivey, who finished with a career-best 17, hit a critical fadeaway jumper with six seconds to play. Andrew Bogut recorded his career-best 21st double-double of the season, finishing with 18 points and 15 rebounds.

"The first half, I struggled and my shot wasn't falling and I wasn't really into the game," Bogut said. "Then, in the second half, it just came to me. Obviously, we hit some big shots toward the end of the game. It was a great team effort."

Washington scored the first nine points on the second quarter, turning a two-point game into a 26-15 lead. Bell broke the string with a 3-pointer, then dished an assist on Awvee Storey's layup.

Storey, absorbing additional minutes with Redd and Villanueva sidelined, hit back-to-back reverse layups and deadlocked the teams, 31-31, with 2:50 to play in the half. Williams' transition 3-pointer with 33 seconds to play gave his team its first lead, at 38-35.

"That's what he brings us in practice all the time," Krystkowiak said of Storey. "He just got after it and competed. I thought he was one of the catalysts for the tempo of the game changing."

Both teams suffered through a lethargic first quarter, though Milwaukee scored seven of the final eight points and cut its deficit to 17-15 by the time the first buzzer sounded.

Yi Jianlian hauled in seven rebounds in the first 12 minutes from the Bucks.