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Shorthanded Bucks gore Rockets

Feb 10, 2009 - 5:55 AM MILWAUKEE (Ticker) -- Ramon Sessions scored 26 points and the Milwaukee Bucks received 21 points or more from four different players in a 124-112 victory over the Houston Rockets on Monday.

Richard Jefferson and Charlie Villanueva scored 25 points each and Charlie Bell added 21 off the bench for the Bucks, who were playing without three starters.

Milwaukee was missing Michael Redd, Andrew Bogut and Luke Ridnour but still found a way to beat Houston for the first time since December 2004.

"I'm just trying to play with as much confidence as I can, trying to help the team and do anything I can do," Sessions said. "We're just coming in night in, night out, sticking with the gameplan and trying to help the offense come through."

Luis Scola scored 20 points and was the only starter to reach double figures for Houston.

"We gave up almost 100 points in three quarters. After talking about it at halftime, we made no defensive stance, and then we were very, very casual and turned the ball over at the other end," Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. "Give Milwaukee credit, I thought they played a terrific game. You're not going to win on the road playing the way we're playing and defending the way we're defending."

The Rockets had not lost to the Bucks since losing 115-87 on December 28, 2004 in Milwaukee. They had won eight straight, but did not play enough defense to make it nine.

"We can sit here and pretty much talk about what we talked about a couple of days ago after the game - it's defense," Rockets guard Tracy McGrady said. "We don't know how to play, we don't execute defensively. Right now, we're just a team that doesn't know how to play defense."

The Bucks scored 32 points in each of the first two quarters to take a 64-58 lead at the half. Bell sparked Milwaukee with 15 points in the first half, while Jefferson had 14, Sessions 13 and Villanueva 10.

"We had 31 assists and seven turnovers, you'll take that 82 times if you can get it," Bucks coach Scott Skiles said. "They just made some really good decisions with the ball."

Milwaukee put the game away in the third, outscoring Houston, 34-18, to take a 98-76 lead into the fourth.

"The ball has really been moving. Even if you look at the Detroit game, we got guys who are really sharing the ball," Jefferson said. "We're a high assist team a low turnover team - as most teams are - when we're playing good basketball."

Aaron Brooks scored a career-high 23 points, Ron Artest had 20 and Carl Landry added 16 all off the bench for the Rockets, who allowed more than 104 points in its fifth straight road game.

"Sometimes a team is actually better than you, and that's what happened tonight," Artest said. "They played really, really good tonight. If they play that way all the time, they'll go to the playoffs."