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Bucks hope to prevail in home finale

Apr 14, 2008 - 2:17 PM Chicago (31-49) at Milwaukee (26-52) 8:00 pm EDT

MILWAUKEE (Ticker) - What was supposed to be promising seasons for both the Milwaukee Bucks and Chicago Bulls instead fell apart.

The Bucks hope to snap a six-game skid when they host their final home game of the season against the Chicago Bulls.

After adding Yi Jianlian in the draft, Milwaukee expected a vast improvement over its 28-win campaign of a season ago. Instead, the Bucks need to win out just to match their 2006-07 win total during a season that already cost general manager Larry Harris his job and may cost coach Larry Krystkowiak his as well.

Lately, the Bucks have struggled to score, primarily due to the ineffectiveness of leading scorer Michael Redd, who has not scored more than 18 points in any of his last three games despite averaging 23 for the season. He scored just 12 points in a 111-98 loss to New Jersey on Saturday.

The Bulls, who took the Detroit Pistons to six games in the Eastern Conference semifinals last season, were supposed to be among the main challengers again this season. Instead, they have not managed to put together any string of consistency, winning as many as two games in a row only four times in 2007-08.

On Sunday, Chicago lost for the fourth time in five games when it fell, 104-84, to the Orlando Magic. Andres Nocioni scored 22 points for the Bulls in the loss.