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Redd helps Bucks end long road skid

Mar 3, 2007 - 6:14 AM TORONTO (Ticker) -- After a record February, the Toronto Raptors started the month of March like a lamb.

The Raptors, who have the best record in the Eastern Conference since the start of the calendar year, could not overcome the zone defense en route to a 94-81 loss to the scuffling Milwaukee Bucks.

Toronto shot less than 40 percent for the third time, could not get the ball to All-Star Chris Bosh and committed 19 turnovers. Bosh was held to eight shots and 14 points.

"They made a concerted effort to take Chris out of the game," Toronto coach Sam Mitchell said. "When we threw him the ball, they had two or three people guarding him. He did what he was supposed to do - he passed the ball, not trying to force anything.

"We didn't make shots and we didn't make plays and they were going to stay in that zone until we made some shots. ... We didn't make shots. I mean, 28-for-whatever was probably the worst shooting night we had all year."

The win snapped an 11-game road losing streak for the Bucks and provided them with a third straight win for the first time since December.

"It's been a while since the last time we won on the road, but we needed it," said Milwaukee forward Charlie Villanueva, a former Raptor. "We are definitely a good team when we are healthy. We needed this win really bad and we got it, our third in a row, and now we need to take it one game at a time."

Michael Redd scored 21 points and Andrew Bogut added 18 and 11 rebounds for the Bucks, who played a spirited game throughout despite not arriving in Toronto until 11 a.m. local time because of inclement weather.

Toronto shot 57 percent in a 106-90 rout over Houston on Wednesday to finish February with a franchise-record 9-3 mark. But the Raptors seemed content shooting from the arc in the second half instead of going inside to Bosh.

"We were able to take Chris Bosh out of his game with our zone," Bogut said. "It had been a while since we won a road game, so this was a big win. To win three in a row, we haven't done that since December. We're gaining some confidence now with our guys getting healthy and maybe we can turn it around."

Toronto shot 37 percent (28-of-76) and made just 10 of an astounding 31 shots from the arc.

"Well, 31 is too many, but there have been nights when we've been knocking them down," Mitchell said. "Thirty-one is too many, but we had some awfully good looks."

"I think we did a great defensive job mixing things up, playing zone, playing man-to-man, switching our pick-and-rolls to take them out of their rhythm, and it worked today," Villanueva said.

Milwaukee took control with a 21-7 run spanning the final two quarters. Bogut opened the burst with a layup with four minutes remaining in the third to tie it at 58-58. Ruben Patterson scored eight points and Mo Williams capped the run with two free throws for a 77-65 lead with 10 minutes left in the contest.

"We started to hit our shots and they started to dry up from 3-point range," Bogut said. "They were shooting well in the first half but dried up in the second half."

Redd, who shot just 7-of-18 in his sixth game back after missing 20 with a left foot injury, converted a 3-pointer and a fadeaway baseline jumper to give Milwaukee an 86-73 advantage with just over three minutes remaining.

"That's my job, to make sure we close the door on them, try not to give them any life or hope," Redd said. "We're getting hungry to win games. Once you've tasted a little success, you want some more, and with the way we are playing right now, we feel we can beat anybody. We came out and did a great job defensively tonight and made some shots when we had to."

Andrea Bargnani had 16 points and nine rebounds and fellow rookie Jorge Garbajosa scored 13 for Toronto, which dropped to 19-9 at home.