Trail Blazers-Bucks Preview

By JEFF MEZYDLO
Posted Apr 07 2012 1:35AM

As the regular season dwindles down, the Milwaukee Bucks and Portland Trail Blazers are doing their best to remain in postseason contention.

With both teams currently on the outside of the playoff picture, the Bucks look for a fourth consecutive victory Saturday night while trying to prevent the Trail Blazers from a third straight win.

With three straight victories over weaker opponents in Washington, Cleveland and Charlotte, Milwaukee (27-28) has continue a month-long stretch of success that has seen it go 12-4. Monta Ellis had 25 points while Brandon Jennings scored 18 and Ersan Ilyasova added 12 with 15 rebounds as the Bucks overcame a 40.7-percent shooting performance Friday to beat the Bobcats 95-90 at home.

Ninth in the Eastern Conference, the Bucks moved within one game of idle New York for the eighth and final playoff spot.

"Milwaukee is just a really good team," said Charlotte's Byron Mullens, who finished with 31 points and 14 rebounds. "They're fighting for the playoffs."

Despite the win, Mullens' performance and the fact that the league-worst Bobcats managed to stick around did not please Bucks coach Scott Skiles.

"I told the guys I am not going home happy," Skiles said. "I don't think they should either. They should be disgusted by it."

Skiles should at least be happy with Ellis' recent play. The veteran guard, averaging 16.6 points in 12 games since the Bucks acquired him from Golden State last month, has totaled 55 points in the last two contests.

Ellis had 14 points and nine assists and was one of six Bucks to score in double figures as Milwaukee shot a season-high 57.8 percent during a 116-87 win at Portland on March 20.

"You've got to give them credit," interim Blazers coach Kaleb Canales said. "They're a hot team and we didn't take them out of their game."

While Milwaukee dominated the Trail Blazers (27-29) on the road, Portland has won three of the last four meetings at the Bradley Center.

Portland should be filled with confidence after it went into Dallas on Friday night and came away with a 99-97 overtime win over the Mavericks.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 25 points with 12 rebounds and hit a buzzer-beating 17-foot jumper in overtime. Raymond Felton scored 16 of his season-high 30 points in the third quarter, when the Trail Blazers outscored Dallas 30-10 to overcome a 12-point halftime deficit.

The Blazers, currently 11th in the West, have won consecutive games for the first time since Jan. 23 and 24 and are within 3 1/2 games of Houston and Denver, which currently hold the final two playoff spots.

Aldridge continues to pace the Blazers, averaging 24.5 points and 9.3 rebounds in his last six games.

"LaMarcus is our All-Star," Canales said. "We were going to LaMarcus. (On Friday), a big-time player, big-time shot."

Third-year Portland swingman and former Marquette standout Wesley Matthews is averaging 20.3 points and 6.7 rebounds in his last three games versus Milwaukee.

Bucks with fourth straight, move closer to 8th

Posted Apr 07 2012 11:23PM

MILWAUKEE (AP) Beno Udrih scored a season-high 21 points, Brandon Jennings also added 21, and the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Portland Trail Blazers 116-94 on Saturday night to tighten the race for the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.

Ersan Ilyasova chipped in 20 points for Milwaukee, which moved within a half-game of idle New York with its fourth straight victory. The Bucks are .500 (28-28) for the first time since they were 2-2 on Jan. 2.

LaMarcus Aldridge finished with 21 points for Portland, which lost 116-87 to Milwaukee on March 20 - its worst home loss of the season.

Wesley Matthews added 14 points for the Trail Blazers, who were hoping to win consecutive road games for the first time this season.

The Bucks shot 50 percent (47 of 94) from the field and were 12 of 25 (48 percent) from 3-point range.

Milwaukee outscored Portland 30-11 in the final quarter, and scored 19 of the first 24 points of the period.

Jennings dribbled the ball between his legs and swished a 3-pointer in front of Raymond Felton for a 99-88 lead with 6:34 to play.

Jennings then delivered two assists that led to dunks by Larry Sanders for a 103-88 lead with 4:06 remaining. Sanders finished with a season-high 14 points.

The lead was 105-88 after Jennings sank two free throws with 3:40 left. He had 12 points in the period.

A victory for the Trail Blazers would have given them their first three-game winning streak since starting the season 3-0. But they missed 11 of their first 13 shots of the final quarter and never recovered.

Portland led 63-54 at halftime, but Milwaukee held an 86-83 advantage after the third quarter. A 3-pointer by Mike Dunleavy gave the Bucks an 84-83 edge, their first since early in the second quarter, with 1:02 left. Dunleavy then delivered a pass to Sanders for a dunk and three-point lead with 36 seconds to play.

Notes: Carlos Delfino and Drew Gooden returned to the starting lineup for Milwaukee. Delfino missed the last six games with a right groin injury and Gooden sat out the previous two with a sore back. Luc Mbah a Moute did not play for the second game in a row because of a sore right knee. . The Bucks have won six of their last seven games. . Aldridge has scored at least 21 points in five games since returning from a left elbow sprain that kept him out of the game March 20.

Notebook: Bucks 116, Trail Blazers 94

Posted Sunday April 8, 2012 12:04AM

By Rick Braun, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Beno Udrih and Brandon Jennings each scored 21 points, and Milwaukee doubled up Portland by a 62-31 margin in the second half, as the Bucks pulled away to a 116-94 victory over the Trail Blazers Saturday night at the Bradley Center.

Udrih added six assists to his season-high scoring output, and Ersan Ilyasova added 20 points and 12 rebounds as the Bucks (28-28) won their fourth straight and got back to .500 for the first time since they were 2-2. Since being 15-24 they've won 13 of their last 17 games.

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 21 for Portland (27-30), but the Trail Blazers were hammered on the boards, 49-33.

QUOTABLE: "We knew coming in Portland was tired from the overtime win last night in Dallas, the long flight and everything, so once we made that push we never looked back."
-- Jennings on the Bucks' huge second half.

THE STAT: Midway through the second quarter the Trail Blazers were shooting 68 percent (17-of-25). From that point on they went 17 of 53 (32.1 percent) the rest of the way.

TURNING POINT: Maybe it wasn't so much the turning point as it was the dagger, but when Jennings drilled a step-back 3-pointer with the shot clock running down to make it 99-88 with 6:34 left, the fight went out of the Trail Blazers.

QUOTABLE II: "I think it would have been a big blow if we hadn't gotten there. It would have been, 'Aw, man,' with the week we have coming up. It's almost like a relief, and not we can go ahead with some momentum and hopefully beat some teams this week."
-- Bucks sixth man Mike Dunleavy on the team reaching .500 for the first time since 2-2.

HOT: Udrih made 9-of-15 shots, including 3-of-4 on 3-pointers, and Ilyasova went 8-for-14 and made all four of his 3-pointers. But the real "hot" award goes to second-year man Larry Sanders, who scored a season-best 14 on 7-of-8 shooting.

NOT: Portland's starting backcourt of Raymond Felton and Wesley Matthews combined to go just 8-for-23 (34.8 percent). One night earlier Felton had gone 12 for 18 to score 30 points.

GOOD MOVE: Bucks head coach Scott Skiles gave his team a good chewing out a night earlier when Milwaukee struggled to get past 7-46 Charlotte. The players seemed to take his words to heart ... at least after the first half.

ROOKIE WATCH: First-round pick Tobias Harris and second-rounder Jon Leuer both got in for the final 2:16 and each scored a basket for the Bucks.

NOTABLE: Carlos Delfino and Drew Gooden both returned to the Bucks' starting lineup. Gooden had missed the previous two games with a sore back, and Delfino had missed the previous six with a groin strain. ... The last time the Bucks had a chance to get back to .500 was Feb. 3 at Detroit. They turned in one of their worst performances of the season to fall to 10-12 and went as many as nine games under .500 after that. ... The Bucks pulled within a half-game of New York for the eighth playoff spot, and 1 1/2 of Philadelphia for seventh place in the East. ... The Bucks swept the two-game season series with Portland by a cumulative 51 points. ...

UP NEXT: For the Trail Blazers, Monday vs. Houston, Wednesday vs. Golden State, Friday vs. Dallas. For the Bucks, Monday vs. Oklahoma City, Wednesday vs. New York, Friday @ Detroit.

• Trail Blazers: Williams, Williams
• Bucks: Brown, Mbah a Moute

• Trail Blazers: Flynn
• Bucks: --

• Lead Changes: 10
• Times Tied: 7

• Arena: Bradley Center, Milwaukee, WI
• Officials: #71 Rodney Mott, #50 Olandis Poole, #79 Kevin Scott
• Attendance: 14969
• Duration: 2:02