MILWAUKEE, Feb. 18 (Ticker) -- Jamal Mashburn tallied 22 points in his first game since November as the Charlotte Hornets defeated the Milwaukee Bucks for the fourth consecutive time at the Bradley Center, 101-92.

Mashburn had missed the Hornets' last 42 contests with a lower abdominal injury. He was activated off the injured list on Monday and made 8-of-18 shots with five assists in just his 10th game of the season.

"I didn't have much rust," Mashburn said. "I was able to do some conditioning, but I always thought basketball and stayed prepared. When you think about the game mentally, you stay sharp. It is good to have a good start."

"Every time we needed to start a run, Mash did it for us," Hornets coach Paul Silas said. "He didn't miss a beat. It is great to have him back. You don't know what you missed until he comes back. There is no way we win this game without him."

NBA TV highlights from Hornets-Bucks: 56k | 300k Elden Campbell works the post against Joel Przybilla in the Hornets' win. Gary Dineen/NBAE/Getty Images

Elden Campbell scored 24 points and Baron Davis added 20 for Charlotte, which won in Milwaukee for the sixth time in its last seven regular-season games.

Charlotte led 74-70 entering the fourth quarter and was up by seven with 7:19 left. But Tim Thomas scored on a dunk and added a free throw to get Milwaukee within 90-87 with 3:22 left.

Campbell scored the game's next four points, and after Ray Allen hit a 3-pointer to make it 94-90 with 1:28 to go, Campbell made a three-point play and the Bucks got no closer.

"Down the stretch when we were going to him, he was either scoring or getting fouled," Silas said of Campbell. "He played some significant minutes."

Allen had 27 points, Thomas 19 and Glenn Robinson 18 for Milwaukee, which fell into a first-place tie with Detroit in the Central Division.

"We want to go into games playing hard, we just can't get it going right now," Allen said. "We just seem like we've been hit with the loss bug right now. Things just aren't clicking the way we want them to."

Milwaukee outscored Charlotte from beyond the arc, 33-9, but made just 11-of-15 attempts from the free-throw line while the Hornets converted 28-of-34.

"I'm frustrated with our tempo a little bit right now," Bucks coach George Karl said. "We have a lot of little things going wrong at different times right now. We just need to weather the storm and hope everything pans out."

The teams were tied at 27 after one quarter but Charlotte outscored Milwaukee in the second period, 29-19.

Charlotte, which had six players reach double figures, led by as many as 14 points and moved into a tie with Philadelphia for the eighth playoff position in the Eastern Conference.

The Bucks, who played without starting point guard Sam Cassell (left big toe sprain), have lost four of their last five games.

"We don't have that swagger right now, but the last time I checked the standings we were in first place in the division and had the second-best record in the East," Karl said. "We just need to keep fighting until we get Sam back."