It was a rare visit to the Bradley Center on Saturday for the well-traveled Milwaukee Bucks , and although there were some anxious moments in the fourth quarter, the Bucks emerged with a 121-103 victory over the Indiana Pacers by scoring the final 19 points.
The Bucks held a 21-point lead in the third quarter and then had to fend off the Pacers - who held a one-point lead with 4 minutes 42 seconds to go - to improve to 10-15. The Bucks have won four of their last five at home. Caught in the middle of a stretch in which they are playing six of seven on the road, it was the only home game for the Bucks in nearly a two-week period.
Center Andrew Bogut came up big for the Bucks, making 8 of 9 free throws, scoring 20 points and grabbing 20 rebounds. Michael Redd was the high scorer with 27 points; forward Charlie Villanueva scored 24 of his 26 points in the first half in leading the Bucks to a 64-46 edge; and forward Richard Jefferson scored 10 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter.
Bogut had eight points and five rebounds in the fourth quarter.
"I had three bad games on the West Coast," Bogut said. "We had three bad ones, as a team, on the West Coast. We hit a bad patch in the third (quarter), but we dug it out and it was a good win for us."
Bogut, who has struggled at the free-throw line throughout his career, was almost flawless and made four of his foul shots as a result of two separate flagrant fouls that were inflicted on him in the third quarter.
"It's been a focus for four years," Bogut said of his free-throw shooting. "It was just one of those games where I got in a groove. I've been putting in extra time at practice. I still have a long way to go. I've got to do that night in and night out."
Said Redd, "We dug in. R.J. made some huge shots, Andrew was huge on the boards and made his free throws tonight, and that was the game for us."
Redd said he wasn't overly concerned when the Pacers charged back in the fourth quarter.
"It's just a comfort level that we have at home," he said. "I knew we were going to make shots eventually."
A jumper by guard T.J. Ford, who led Indiana with 27 points, gave the Pacers a 103-102 lead with 4:42 left. But those were the Pacers' final points of the night.
Jefferson hit a jumper and then made two free throws. A three-pointer by Redd pushed the lead to six, and a steal by Jefferson led to a dunk and a three-point play by Bogut.
Jefferson made two free throws and sank another jumper, and it was 116-103 with 1:26 left.
Coach Scott Skiles went to his bench with a minute left. Villanueva made two free throws with 59 seconds to go, and Austin Croshere drove the final nail in the coffin of his former team by draining a three-pointer with 25 seconds left.
"We had an outstanding first half and we appeared to be running out of gas a little bit in the third quarter," said Skiles. "We were able to get it back and we made some big plays at the end of the game. We had contributions from basically everybody that played in the game."
The Bucks tied their season-high point total for a half in building its 64-46 halftime lead, only to see Indiana shoot 62% in the third quarter and trim Milwaukee's lead to 86-83 going into the fourth. The Bucks held a 70-49 lead early in the third quarter.
"I was concerned in the third," said Skiles. "We've had a brutal schedule and I thought maybe the guys were going to completely run out of gas, but we were able to fight for it and we made some big plays."
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