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Bucks beat Cavs, gain ground in playoff chase

Apr 5, 2012 - 3:53 AM Milwaukee, WI (Sports Network) - Monta Ellis had 30 points, eight assists and five rebounds Wednesday and the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers for the seventh straight time, 107-98.

Brandon Jennings added 19 points and Ersan Ilyasova scored 18 for the Bucks, who have won four of their last five to pull within one game of idle New York for the eighth and final playoff seed in the Eastern Conference.

The Cavs played without rookie point guard Kyrie Irving, who stayed behind in Cleveland to have an MRI and will miss 7-10 days with a contused and sprained right shoulder he aggravated in Tuesday's loss to San Antonio.

All five Cleveland starters scored in double digits, led by Anthony Parker's 27 points, but the Cavs' losing streak reached nine games.

The Bucks won the game mostly on the strength of a good start. They outscored the Cavs 29-14 in the first quarter, but lost each quarter after that -- which Milwaukee head coach Scott Skiles was quick to point out afterward.

"It's a team we feel like we should handle a little easier than we did," said Skiles.

Ellis and Ilyasova scored eight points apiece and the Bucks shot 44 percent in the first quarter, holding Cleveland to 20.7 percent. Milwaukee led by as many as 15 in the quarter and by as much as 19 in the second on the way to a 53-39 edge at the break.

Parker had 10 of his 27 points in the third quarter but the Cavs were never closer than 11 and trailed 79-68 going into the fourth.

They made a game of it late, getting within 93-87 on Antawn Jamison's three- pointer from the high right side with 3 1/2 minutes left, but that was as close as it got.

"Beating them every quarter (after the first) was good for us," said Parker. "There are no moral victories here in the NBA but after the last couple of games we've had it's a step in the right direction."

Game Notes

The Bucks swept the four-game season series and beat the Cavs for the fifth straight time at home. Cleveland hasn't won a game anywhere in the series since Nov. 24, 2010, and hasn't won at Milwaukee since Dec. 6, 2009.