Hornets-Bucks Preview

By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN
Posted Feb 14 2012 4:08PM

The Milwaukee Bucks have lost four straight at home while the New Orleans Hornets have dropped six in a row on the road.

One of those streaks will end Wednesday night in the lone meeting of 2011-12 between the Bucks and Hornets.

Milwaukee (12-16), which fell 114-96 to Miami on Monday, last dropped five straight at home March 18-April 8, 2009.

New Orleans (5-23) is beginning a six-game trip as it looks to avoid its first seven-game road slide since Nov. 29-Dec. 27, 2010. The Hornets own the second-worst record in the NBA and things got worse Tuesday, when Eric Gordon underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee that will keep him out at least six more weeks.

Chris Kaman had a season-high 27 points and 13 boards as New Orleans ended an eight-game slide with an 86-80 win over Utah on Monday. Kaman made his first start since Jan. 14 after Emeka Okafor was scratched shortly before tipoff with a sore left knee.

With trade talk swirling around the Hornets, Kaman insists he is not letting it affect him.

"I know what I'm capable of. ... I'm just trying to be positive and do the best I can with the situation," he said. "I can't worry about the situation with trades. I can't worry about the situation with the organization. It's a business, so that part I have to leave alone. ... As far as the basketball goes, that's something I'm capable of doing."

Mexican rookie Gustavo Ayon scored 13 points and shot 6 of 7 in his fourth straight start while the Venezuelan-born Greivis Vasquez added 12 points and 10 assists for his second career double-double.

"Playing in the NBA is not easy," Vasquez said. "Imagine how many kids from Mexico and Venezuela want to play in the NBA, and now we are starting, so that's a blessing. He's a big-time Hornets player and wants to win night in and night out."

Italian shooting guard Marco Belinelli is the third player currently starting for the Hornets that was born outside the United States. The Bucks have two such players, with Argentine guard Carlos Delfino averaging 16.5 points over his last four games.

Delfino made eight of 12 shots and scored 24 points Monday.

"It's about the team," Delfino said. "If the shot goes in and we don't win, it's bad for me. I want to win."

Milwaukee allowed Miami to shoot 51.8 percent, the fifth time a Bucks opponent has made at least half of its shots.

The Bucks are allowing 97.1 points per game, one of the poorer marks in the NBA, after being third in the league at 92.7 a season ago.

"We're an average defensive team and we can't afford to be," coach Scott Skiles said. "We need to be above average. We've got our offensive numbers up to 95, 96 points a game.

"We talked about it before the season if we can keep our defense the same, it would be good for us. We haven't been able to do that."

New Orleans has won 10 of the last 11 matchups with Milwaukee. The Hornets' last six victories in the series have been by single digits.

Belinelli hits 6 3s to lead Hornets past Bucks

Posted Feb 16 2012 12:12AM

MILWAUKEE (AP) Like the rest of his Milwaukee Bucks teammates, Brandon Jennings was searching for answers following what he called an "embarrassing" loss to the short-handed and struggling New Orleans Hornets on Wednesday night.

Marco Belinelli made a career-high six 3-pointers and scored a season-high 22 points to lead the Hornets to a 92-89 victory over Milwaukee. The Bucks have lost three straight and six of eight to fall further out of the Eastern Conference playoff picture, with the surging New York Knicks now in the No. 8 spot.

"It starts with myself," Jennings said. "I need to come out with a lot more energy, and I need to play harder. I can't say I've been playing hard the last couple games because I really haven't. I need to look in the mirror and ask myself, `Is this something that I'm up for?"'

Ersan Ilyasova led the Bucks (12-17) with a season-high 23 points, two off his career high.

Chris Kaman added 18 points and 10 rebounds for New Orleans, which had lost eight in a row and 17 of 18 before beating Utah 86-80 on Monday.

Gusvtavo Ayon had 12 points and a career-high 12 rebounds as the Hornets (6-23) won their second straight game for the first time since starting the season 2-0.

"We're a fighting team," coach Monty Williams said. "We have a little bit of grit about us. I'm pretty sure guys have read the articles about how bad we've been this year from a record standpoint. It's too bad you don't have a stat for heart and intensity because we'd be at the top of the league."

The Hornets led the entire second half and by as many as 13 points in the third quarter, but the Bucks kept it close in the fourth.

Belinelli's 3-pointer put the Hornets up 87-81 with 2:59 left, and Jennings responded with a 3 with 2:40 remaining. Ayon's reverse layup made it 89-84 with 1:28 left. Mike Dunleavy hit a 3-pointer to cut it to 89-87 before Belinelli sealed the win with two free throws with 15.5 seconds remaining.

"It's huge," Williams said of Belinelli, who he said is battling a wrist injury. "He always plays hard. Tonight he was making shots, he was defending, he was talking. We've always felt like he was capable of doing that. Maybe not that many points, but he's playing more minutes."

The Hornets led 50-45 at halftime despite 15 points from Ilyasova, two off his season high.

New Orleans heated up in the third quarter, leading by as many as 13 behind three Belinelli 3-pointers that elicited boos from the small home crowd. But the Bucks drew within 72-71 with a 12-0 run spanning the third and fourth quarters.

"It's nothing against New Orleans. They're a good team, but look at their record," Ilyasova said. "As soon as they started playing in the beginning, they get confidence in themselves, and every shot they got, they just knocked it down. It's hard to compete against those teams."

Jennings, the Bucks' leading scorer (18.4 points per game), had 18 points but struggled from the field (7 of 21). He called the loss "embarrassing."

"Of course it is," he said. "They're last in the Western Conference, so of course it's embarrassing to lose to a team that's 5-20 (now 6-23), and lose on your home court like that."

He added: "I really don't know what it is. It don't seem like we have the same passion as we had before. We have to find a way to get that back. It is going to take a team effort. There is only one guy who has been playing really well for us so far, and that's Ersan Ilyasova."

Bucks coach Scott Skiles said his team was "outplayed and outworked."

"We were at least able to give ourselves a chance, but we need to address what goes on before the last 3 minutes of the game," he said.

The Hornets only dressed 10 players and remained without their three leading scorers, leading rebounder and leading assist man.

Emeka Okafor missed his second straight game with a sore left knee, and Jarrett Jack missed his third straight with a bruised left knee. Carl Landry (second degree MCL sprain) and Jason Smith (concussion) have both missed the last five games.

Eric Gordon has missed 22 straight games with a bruised right knee. Gordon had arthroscopic surgery to clean up the knee Tuesday and will miss approximately six weeks, the team said.

"Offensively, we are still a work in progress," Williams said. "I'm just proud of the way the guys hang in there. We've got two guys form the D-League and one guy who just got here last night and a few guys who still don't know what we do every day. They just keep fighting."

It was the first road victory for the Hornets since Jan. 9, and the Bucks have lost five straight at home.

"The most fun thing tonight is that we got another win," Kaman said. "That's two in a row for us, and everybody is happy, and it feels good to get off that losing column."

Notes: Before the game, the Hornets signed Solomon Jones to a 10-day contract. The 6-foot-10 Jones, who played 10 minutes Wednesday, appeared in 10 regular-season games with the Clippers this season before being waived on Feb. 7. He is in his sixth NBA season. ... New Orleans has won five of its last six at the Bradley Center, and the Hornets have swept the Bucks in the season series five of the past six years. The teams do not play again in 2012.

Notebook: Hornets 92, Bucks 89

Posted Wednesday February 15, 2012 11:40PM

By Rick Braun, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Marco Belinelli scored 22 points and Chris Kaman added 18 points and 10 rebounds as the New Orleans Hornets beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 92-89, Wednesday night at the Bradley Center to win consecutive games for the first time since opening the season with two victories.

The Bucks (12-17) lost capped a 0-3 home stand and have now lost five consecutive home games. The Hornets improved to 6-23.

Ersan Ilyasova led the Bucks with 23 points off the bench but he missed two shots from short range in the last five minutes as the Bucks were trying to get back to even.

QUOTABLE: "We're playing so hard, and then we give up an offensive rebound, and then we give up another offensive rebound, and you're kind of rolling your eyes and you're like, 'Geez!' And then they score or get fouled and you're back to Square One."
-- Bucks guard Brandon Jennings on two big offensive rebounds the Hornets collected in the final two minutes.

THE STAT: In a game that lacked pace and energy much of the night, Belinelli's 6-of-7 shooting from the 3-point line stood out as the major factor in the result.

TURNING POINT: The Bucks trimmed a 72-59 deficit down to a single point with a 12-0 run that spanned the end of the third and start of the fourth quarters. Jennings and Mike Dunleavy started the fourth with consecutive 3-pointers that made it 72-71. From there, Xavier Henry scored the Hornets' next two buckets, and a Kaman basket made it 78-73 with 8:48 left. That stalled the Milwaukee momentum, and the Bucks never were able to get closer than two the rest of the way.

QUOTABLE II: "That's hard for me because I don't like just hitting the ball because I don't know where it's going. But on that one I knew Marco was right there and I knew (Milwaukee's Stephen) Jackson was coming to me, so I knew all I could really do was tip it and it would get to Marco. I just wanted to get the ball back for our team because we were only up two points and it was a key possession."
-- Kaman on a key offensive rebound he tapped out to Belinelli in the final minute of the game.

HOT: At 7-for-10, Belinelli was the only player with at least 10 attempts to shoot 50 percent or better.

NOT: Ilyasova started the game hot but went just 2-for-8 in the fourth quarter to finish 9 for 21.

INSIDE THE ARENA: Attendance was announced as 12,829 but the number of people actually in the building appeared to be significantly lower than that.

GOOD MOVE: The Hornets signed center Solomon Jones to a 10-day contract before the game, and coach Monty Williams said he'd play. Jones played just under 11 minutes and contributed six points and two rebounds, including a tip-in late in the third quarter that made it 72-59.

BAD MOVE: Three times in the first six minutes of the third quarter Bucks guard Shaun Livingston lost track of Belinelli, and all three times Belinelli made him pay by making a 3-pointer. After Livingston went to the bench with 5:50 left in the third he did not return.

ROOKIE WATCH: Hornets forward Gustavo Ayon posted a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

NOTABLE: New Orleans scored its first road victory since Jan. 9.... Ayon claimed a rebound under the basket while lying on his back. With New Orleans leading, 70-57, at the time, that drew boos toward the Bucks from the small Milwaukee crowd. ... The Bucks had 16 offensive rebounds and have reached double digits in that category in nine straight games. ... All nine players that were available to play for the Hornets scored.

UP NEXT: For the Hornets, Friday @ New York, Monday @ Oklahoma City, Tuesday @ Indiana. For the Bucks, Friday @ Orlando, Sunday @ New Jersey, Monday vs. Orlando.

• Hornets: Gordon, Landry
• Bucks: Bogut

• Hornets: --
• Bucks: --

• Lead Changes: 9
• Times Tied: 7

• Arena: Bradley Center, Milwaukee, WI
• Officials: #13 Monty McCutchen, #6 Tony Brown, #78 Scott Bolnick
• Attendance: 12829
• Duration: 2:01