GAMEDAY: Milwaukee at Philadelphia - 04/09/10

Coach Skiles

On struggling to hold a lead in the second half...
"We took John (Salmons) out and I wanted to leave him out because of the flu. He was giving us what he could give us, but he just didn't look good in the face in the timeouts so I decided that was enough. He has been a guy that has settled us down in those types of situations. (Luke) Ridnour came in and hit some big shots for us, but our execution wasn't great. We were able to hold them off and win."

On how big some of the role players were tonight...
"(Luc) Mbah a Moute was good. For a change we got off to a quick start tonight. We had some good energy early in the game. It is hard in the NBA to come back and win when you are down double digits. We had them down by double digits for a while and they did a good job of coming back and making a run. You could tell we were fatigued and that they were beating us off the dribble, but we made enough big plays to win."

On being able to play good defense and make steals...
"We had several steals. We were moving our feet well and our defense was sharp early. We had good defense in the first half and a not so good defensive second half."

Luke Ridnour

How important are games like this at this point in the season?
"It's huge. Every game is a playoff game for us right now. We realized that the last month it has been like that and we have just hung in there and kept fighting. Teams like Philadelphia are so talented that they are scary. You have to be ready and I know that they haven't won a lot of games but they are still a good team, so for us to come in here and win is a big win for us."

Do you like where the team is at this point?
"I think that for what we have been through in losing Andrew (Bogut) a couple of days ago, it is important that we have been able to win two or three in a row. He is a huge part of our team and everyone else on the team has to just do a little bit more for us to be successful."

THREE HISTORY - The Bucks hit seven three-pointers on Wednesday, adding to their newly minted franchise record for three-pointers in a season, now totaling 606 (sixth most in the NBA). Brandon Jennings' Bucks rookie record 137 three-pointers rank second among rookies and 16th in the NBA. Jennings and Carlos Delfino (123) have combined for 260 threes, which is the most by a Bucks duo since Michael Redd (163) and Bobby Simmons (105) combined for 268 in 2005-06.

JOHN DEER -Since making John Salmons a Buck (or a deer), Milwaukee has gone 20-6 (.769). Over that span, Salmons is averaging a team-high 20.3 points to go with 3.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.2 steals, leading or tied for the team lead in scoring in 14 of those games and scoring double-figures in 24 of the 26. He's also tallied 14 games with 20 points or more, including 20-plus performances in 11 of his last 15 games. Salmons is shooting 47.1 (189-401) percent with the Bucks, including 39.6 percent (40-101) from long range.

WINNING WAYS - The Bucks recorded their 44th win of the season on Wednesday, their most wins since going 52- 30 in the 2000-01 season. Their 44-34 mark represents the first time they have been 10 games over .500 since March 6, 2002, when they boasted a 35-25 record. The Bucks, who have the fifth-most wins of any NBA franchise since their inception in 1968-69, have finished at .500 or above 25 times in their history. Milwaukee also earned its 28th home win of the year, their most at the Bradley Center since posting a 31-10 mark in 2000-01. The Bucks have improved on last year's win total by 10 games (34-48 last year) and have shown an 18 game improvement since a 26-56 record in 2007-08.

GETTING DEFENSIVE - The Bucks have been D-ing it up all season, allowing just 95.8 points per game, which would set a franchise record for fewest points allowed in a season (currently 96.9 points in 2000-01). Milwaukee has held 45 of their 78 opponents to under 100 points and 28 of them under 90, recording a 24-4 mark when the opposition scores 89 or less. The Bucks are also forcing 15.5 turnovers per game, third most in the league.

CALLING ON KURT - After the injury to Andrew Bogut, the Bucks have called on 14-year NBA veteran Kurt Thomas--and he's answered the call in a big way. In his two starts at center, Thomas is averaging 8.0 points, 12.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.3 blocks and 1.0 steals per game. After a season-high 14 rebounds in his first start on Tuesday, Thomas set another season-high on Wednesday with 12 points against the Nets. The Bucks have won both of the games that Thomas has started at center and are 4-0 in the last four games that he's logged 25 or more minutes (5-2 this season). Though Bogut's streak of 39 straight games with a block ended against Phoenix on Saturday, April 3, Kurt Thomas swatted two shots against the Suns and has a three-game block streak of his own. Thomas' block in Wednesday's game was the 750th of his career and he is 11 points shy of scoring his 8,500th point.

• The Bucks have clinched their first playoff berth since the 2005-06 season, earning the club's 26th postseason appearance in 42 NBA seasons.
  
  
• Milwaukee has won three straight games, giving the team its eighth winning streak of three or more this season. The Bucks longest streak has been six straight wins, achieved twice (Feb. 19-27 and Mar. 3-14).
  
  
• Tonight's game begins the Bucks fourth straight back-to-back set and their final back-to-back of the season (22nd of the year). The Bucks are 12-9 in game one of these sets and an even better 14-7 on no rest, giving them a total record of 26-16 when playing in consecutive games.
  
  
• The 19-point win by the Bucks on Wednesday gave them double-digit wins in all four games against the Nets, making them one of two teams (along with MIN) to lose all meetings with the Bucks by double-digits this year.
  
  
• Ersan Ilyasova is averaging 14.0 points and 7.2 rebounds in his last six games, shooting 52.2 percent (36-69).
  
  
• Luke Ridnour has scored double figures in eight of his last 11 games, averaging 10.9 points and a teamleading 4.7 assists. He is shooting 48.9 percent (45-92) during that stretch.
  
  
• Jerry Stackhouse (2,993) is seven rebounds away from his 3,000th career board and John Salmons (597) is three games away from playing in his 600th career game.