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Bucks-Wizards Preview

Dec 2, 2009 - 4:55 AM By JEFF MEZYDLO STATS Senior Writer

Milwaukee (9-7) at Washington (5-10), 7:00 p.m. EDT

Andrew Bogut's return to the court couldn't come soon enough for a Milwaukee Bucks team that continues to be hit hard by injuries.

Bogut and the visiting Bucks look to build off their latest victory while trying for a fifth consecutive win over the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night.

Milwaukee (9-7) announced Tuesday that star guard Michael Redd won't travel with the team on its two-game trip to Washington and Detroit because of continued soreness in his surgically repaired knee. Redd missed nine games from Nov. 3-21 due to a strained ligament, returned for three, and missed the last two.

Despite Redd's continued injury issues, Milwaukee will at least have some momentum after snapping a season-high four-game losing streak by holding on to beat Chicago 99-97 on Monday.

After missing six games with a leg injury, the 7-foot Bogut returned to score 22 points and grab a season-high 15 rebounds as Milwaukee managed to win despite blowing a 14-point lead.

"I'll be sore," said Bogut, who was supposed to be out up to four weeks. "I should be all right."

The Bucks hope he is with Redd out, forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute likely to miss a ninth straight game with a foot sprain and guard Luke Ridnour day-to-day with a hamstring injury.

Bogut, who's averaging a career-high 16.7 points and 9.8 rebounds in 10 games, could take some pressure off Brandon Jennings. The rookie guard has cooled off while averaging 14.2 points on 29.8-percent shooting in his last five games after scoring 31.0 per game on 51.2-percent shooting in his previous six contests.

"It felt good to have (Bogut) out there," said Jennings, who's averaging 21.8 points, 5.7 assists and 4.0 boards this season. "He's a big help, as you can see, with the inside presence, it just opens up the game for everybody else."

Bogut has fared well against the Wizards recently, averaging 17.8 points and 12.0 rebounds in his last five games against them.

Though Milwaukee swept the three-game series last season and has won two in a row at Washington, the Wizards (6-10) have won two of three overall after beating Toronto 106-102 on Tuesday.

Antwan Jamison had 30 points with 12 rebounds and Gilbert Arenas ended his brief slump by adding 22 for the Wizards.

Arenas is averaging 20.3 points, but was held to 15 on 7-of-18 shooting in his team's previous two games against Miami and Charlotte. It was the first time Arenas had failed to score at least 10 points in back-to-back games since his rookie season in 2002

"We've got confidence in him," Jamison said of Arenas, who was limited to just 15 games the past two seasons because of knee problems. "We know he's going to find a way to get out of it and make us a better team and start being his old self again, too."

The star guard is averaging 22.3 points in 18 career games against Milwaukee, but injuries have kept him out of all but one of the last seven meetings between the clubs.

Jamison is averaging 22.9 points and 9.7 rebounds in seven games since missing the first nine with a shoulder injury. He's averaging 20.6 points and 7.2 boards in 26 games against the Bucks.