• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Bogut, Redd lead Bucks past Pacers

Dec 14, 2008 - 5:12 AM By David Cotey PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

MILWAUKEE (Ticker) -- Michael Redd and the Milwaukee Bucks took advantage of the Indiana Pacers' road woes.

Redd scored 27 points and Andrew Bogut had 20 and 20 rebounds as the Bucks defeated the Pacers, 121-103, Saturday.

The Pacers dropped to 2-11 on the road this season, the second-worst mark in the NBA, and have lost sixth straight both on the road and overall.

T.J. Ford scored a season-high 27 for the Pacers and Brandon Rush chipped in 16, but it was not enough as Indiana lost for the eighth time in nine games.

The Bucks snapped a three-game losing streak and won for the fourth time in five games at home.

"There's a comfort level that we have at home," Redd said. "I knew we were going to make shots eventually. We were getting too many wide-open shots and eventually they started going down."

After wiping out the remains of an 21-point deficit early in the fourth, the Pacers took their first lead since early in the first quarter when Ford hit a pair of free throws with 5:33 left that snapped a 97-97 tie.

"We were just more aggressive. We started to pick up the intensity," Ford said. "When you're in a hole, the only thing you can do is try to get out of it, but we shouldn't have put ourselves in that sort of situation from the beginning."

The two teams traded a pair of baskets each before Richard Jefferson scored four straight points and Redd hit a wide-open 3-pointer to put Milwaukee up, 109-103, with 2:50 left.

"Late in the game, I was kind of determined to get to the basket and get to the free-throw line," Jefferson. "Just attack. I feel like the last three or four games I haven't been aggressive enough taking it to the basket. I'm still looking for those seams."

Twenty seconds later, Bogut dunked, was fouled and made the free throw as the Bucks stretched the lead to 112-103 before Milwaukee put the finishing touches on a 19-0 run to close the game.

"It was one of those games where I got some cheap buckets early," said Bogut, who recorded his second career 20-20 game. "A couple easy buckets from guys' penetration. I was just trying to be active and, when we have three or four guys with 15 to 20 (points), we'll win. We just need to do that every game."

Indiana did not score in the final 4:42.

"We got wide-open jumpers," Bucks coach Scott Skiles said. "Richard came back with a big boost of energy. Andrew was active on the glass, and we made stops."

The Pacers outscored the Bucks by 15 points in the third quarter to trim Milwaukee's 21-point lead to three. Jeff Foster drilled a long 3-pointer as time expired in the quarter, setting up the frantic fourth.

"It's tough to have a half like we did, and climb all the way back," Pacers coach Jim O'Brien said. "Especially on back-to-back games like we did. We just didn't have enough down the stretch."

Charlie Villanueva, who set a new season high with 26 points, exploded for 15 in the second quarter as the Bucks built their lead to 64-46 at the break. The Bucks' sixth man made six of seven shots in the period, including three of four 3-pointers as Milwaukee pulled away.

"We have a lot of new guys and it's a new system, but today was an indication of what we can do," Villanueva said. "We executed pretty well and guys were making open shots. But we can't let up like we did in the third quarter."

One night after scoring a career-high 42 in a 114-110 loss to Detroit, Danny Granger finished with 14 for Indiana.