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Injury-plagued Bucks visit Iverson, shorthanded Nuggets

Jan 8, 2007 - 10:53 PM Milwaukee (16-17) at Denver (16-15) 9:00 pm EST

DENVER (Ticker) -- Michael Redd and Allen Iverson have been among the NBA's elite scorers throughout the season. But one of the two gunslingers will miss their scheduled showdown.

Redd will not be in the lineup Monday when the injury-plagued Milwaukee Bucks visit Iverson and the struggling Denver Nuggets.

The NBA's fifth-leading scorer at 27.7 points per game, Redd is nursing a strained patellar tendon in his left knee and will be sidelined four to six weeks.

Milwaukee also will be without forward Charlie Villanueva, who has missed each of the last two games with tendinitis in his right shoulder. The 6-11 Villanueva, who averages 12.7 points per game, received a cortisone injection Monday afternoon and will miss at least one week.

The Bucks, who have lost three of their last four games since winning six straight from December 16-27, take on a Nuggets team that has struggled to adapt to Iverson.

Since acquiring the four-time scoring champion from Philadelphia on December 19, the Nuggets have gone 2-6 to fall to only one game above the .500 mark.

The league's third-leading scorer at 29.5 points, Iverson has looked tentative with his new team, averaging 26.4 points and 5.3 turnovers.

Denver, which has won six of its last seven meetings with Milwaukee, clearly has missed superstar Carmelo Anthony, who still is serving a 15-game suspension stemming from the team's ugly brawl with the New York Knicks on December 16.

Iverson struggled for 22 points on 5-of-19 shooting in Saturday's 96-84 loss here to the Utah Jazz. The Nuggets fell to 3-6 without Anthony, who leads the NBA in scoring at 31.6 points per game.