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Redd, Villanueva, Bogut lead Bucks to easy win over Kings

Nov 5, 2006 - 4:23 AM MILWAUKEE (Ticker) -- Michael Redd turned in another solid performance and Charlie Villanueva and Andrew Bogut gave Milwaukee Bucks fans a glimpse of the future.

Redd scored 26 points, Villanueva added 25 and Bogut 21 as the Bucks posted a 104-91 victory over the Sacramento Kings in their home opener.

Redd had 18 points at halftime, helping Milwaukee stay within 55-49 heading into the third quarter. Overall, the 2004 All-Star shot 9-of-16 from the field and was 4-of-6 from 3-point range.

"This team has a chance," Redd said. "We have the potential to do great things this year if we're unselfish."

Bogut and Villanueva took over in the third period, when the Bucks outscored the Kings, 37-16. They combined for 25 points, 15 from Bogut.

"We have so many options now, and if you look at our starting five, we can all score pretty well," Bogut said. "We all enjoy passing the ball and that's helping everyone on the team."

"We were determined to win tonight because we lost badly in Toronto," Villanueva said. "We wanted to win at home. That is a priority for us."

Villanueva hit a 3-pointer to give the Bucks a 66-65 lead and trigger a 23-6 surge that opened a 15-point lead entering the final period. He and Bogut combined for 17 points in the run.

Acquired in an offseason trade with Toronto, the 22-year-old Villanueva hopes to form a dominant inside tandem with Bogut, the top overall pick in the 2005 draft.

"He and I are playing well together, but I have to give the credit to him because he can flat-out play," Villanueva said. "We feed off of each other well."

Milwaukee shot 53 percent (38-of-72) from the field. The Bucks also sank 9-of-17 3-pointers after making just seven in their first two games.

John Salmons scored 18 points off the bench and Kevin Martin and Shareef Abdur-Rahim added 15 apiece for Sacramento, which shot 40 percent (34-of-85), including a dismal 4-of-20 from 3-point range.

"Our lack of size hurt us against their bigs, but obviously 20 3-point shots in the second game of a back-to-back is too many," Kings coach Eric Musselman said.

Ron Artest, who had 22 points and 13 rebounds in Friday's win in Chicago, picked up two first-quarter fouls and finished with seven points on 2-of-9 shooting. He seemed to be disturbed by the tough defense played on him by Bucks swingman Ruben Patterson.

"I take the blame for this loss," Artest said. "They were fronting me a lot tonight, but I want to get the ball in the post but we went away from it. We were probably a little bit tired, but we have to be able to play through that fatigue."

"Having Ruben (Patterson) in there has been great," Bogut said. "He's been a huge plus for us because we got hurt a lot by the other team's (shooting guards and small forwards) last year."

The Kings completed a season-opening 1-2 road trip.

"It's a tough way to open a schedule with three straight (home) openers, but having said that, there is a lot of work to do," Musselman said. "We're not happy with tonight's performance at all. It was a really poor third quarter."