Bucks 95 - Timberwolves 92
Attendance: 15,512
Time: 2:20
box | play-by-play | recap | photos | video & audio | quotes | notes

(Getty Images / NBAE)
MILWAUKEE, December 15 (AP) -- Michael Redd scored 32 points and made two pressure free throws late to help the Milwaukee Bucks hold off the Minnesota Timberwolves 95-92 Saturday night.

Yi Jianlian, the sixth overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, had a career high 22 points and Mo Williams added 19 for Milwaukee which extended Minnesota's losing streak to four games.

Craig Smith scored 30 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and Al Jefferson had 23 points and 15 rebounds for the Timberwolves who have lost nine of the last 10 road games.

Trailing 84-74, Jefferson scored five points and Ryan Gomes hit a 3-pointer as Minnesota pulled to 84-82 with 1:41 to go. Yi answered with a 3-pointer that put the Bucks up by five. Smith made two free throws with 42.2 seconds left to make it 87-84.

After a Bucks' timeout, Bobby Simmons inbounded the ball to Williams who passed to Redd who drove, but then dished it back to Williams for a 3-pointer and a six-point margin.

Rashad McCants, who had 15 points, hit a 3-pointer before Redd made two free throws with 9.6 seconds left. Yi made two pressure free throws after Jefferson's driving layup. McCant's hit his last 3 for the final points, 95-92.

Full AP recap

Postgame News and Notes

The Bucks are now 8-2 at the Bradley Center this season.

With tonight’s win, the Bucks improved to 3-4 in the second game of back-to-back sets.

The Bucks have now beaten at least one team from each of the league’s six divisions. Entering tonight, the Bucks were 0-2 against the Northwest Division.

The Bucks won for just the third time this season (3-12) when their opponent finished with a higher shooting percentage. The Timberwolves hit 46.3% of their shots, while the Bucks shot 42.9%.

The Bucks opened the second half with an 11-2 run, turning a 2-point deficit into a 7-point lead.

The Bucks bench combined for just 4 points tonight, 2 in each half. The Bucks’ fewest points off the bench to date was 7 (11/28/07 at Atlanta).

The Timberwolves have not beaten an Eastern Conference opponent in nine tries.

Third shift: After being outscored 32-15 in the third quarter last night in Boston, the Bucks dominated the third frame tonight, outscoring Minnesota 26-16 to take control of the game.

The Bucks are 4-1 this season when returning to the Bradley Center after a road loss.

Bucks guard Michael Redd (15) and Timberwolves forward Craig Smith (14) combined for 29 of the 42 points scored in the third quarter.

Al Jefferson got his 16th double-double of the season, scoring 23 points and grabbing 15 boards.

Bucks rookie Yi Jianlian scored a career high 22 points, surpassing his previous best of 19.

Craig Smith scored 12 of his 30 points in the first quarter, sinking 6 of his first 7 shots to open the game.

Desmond Mason had 3 blocked shots in the first half.

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GAMEDAY ARCHIVE

Locker room video: Andrew Bogut
Click "play" on the video player to the right to watch exclusive locker room video from Saturday's win over Minnesota. Or use the links below to watch and listen to archived video and audio.

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Locker room: Andrew Bogut
Game highlights

Game highlights
Post-game: Coach K

Larry Krystkowiak

(On the win tonight…)
“It certainly wasn’t pretty, but they had a couple of formidable post players. They had a lot of points in the paint. Between (Craig) Smith and (Al) Jefferson, I thought those guys were a load inside. Forty-point first half kind of kept us in the game. It was a little bit of a slugfest for us to score. The defense wasn’t fantastic but it was enough to keep us in the game. Anytime you can win a game shooting 42 percent yourself, I think you’re doing pretty well and the fact that we only turned the ball over six times I thought was a big key as well.”

(On turning the ball over just six times tonight…)
“We were stung last night. We had more turnovers last night in Boston in the third quarter than we had in the whole game tonight. We talked about it in the meeting before the game, just the importance of getting a shot. If you don’t get a shot, it’s obviously pretty hard to score. Take care of it and give yourself a chance, and I thought for the most part we did a pretty nice job in that area.”

(On the play of the bench tonight…)
“Pretty solid. I thought Charlie Bell’s defense was there. He may have been a little frustrated with not making a shot, but he provided a spark for us. Last night was one of those situations in Boston where our starters didn’t play about the last 18 minutes in the game, or close to that, so they were a little bit charged up. Our starters provided everything we were looking for.”


Michael Redd

(On tonight’s win…)
”A win is a win, and we’ll take it all day, all night, anytime. Tonight, we knew this game was important after losing last night to Boston and going on the road to Cleveland, so we knew this was a must-win especially at home.”

(On Mo Williams’ late three to help seal the victory…)
“Mo told me right before the play, ‘I’m going to be wide open, all the attention is going to be on you.’ I said, ‘I got you.’ He hit a big shot for us. That’s the way it’s got to be, throughout the whole year.”


Andrew Bogut

(On the low number of turnovers…)
“It was something coach touched on before the game, if we can keep our turnovers low, we can win most games. That was something we tried to emphasize before the game.”

(On the bench play tonight…)
“Sometimes our starters don’t bring it and the bench picks us up and sometimes it’s the opposite. If we can keep getting wins no matter how we do it we’ll be happy.”

Photos by Gary Dineen (NBAE/Getty Images)

Photo gallery
Yi Jianlian


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