Millsap returned to the bench late in the first half wearing a brace, then played the entire second half. The Jazz recovered to tie the game after trailing by as many as 19 in the third quarter, but faltered down the stretch and ended their trip 2-3.

"I felt like I just had one leg," said Millsap, who finished with 11 points and nine rebounds. "Trying to run, jump off of it, trying to play defense. But like I said, it's a man's game out there. The team needed me and I came back and tried to help."

As the Jazz saw in the first half, the alternative would have been worse. Andrei Kirilenko ended up at center while Matt Harpring and Ronnie Brewer both played power forward. "It was a little scary there for a minute," Deron Williams said.

Millsap, who has played in all 194 games of his three-year career, the NBA's seventh-longest consecutive game streak, went down with 3:47 left in the first quarter as Michael Redd came down on his knee as he curled for a shot in the lane.

Although he thought he heard something pop -- "I felt like it was over," he said -- Millsap pronounced the knee good after walking on it back in the locker room. The Jazz said X-rays were negative and Millsap was experiencing soreness.

With the Jazz trailing, Millsap said, "I felt I could get in and at least try to be able to spark a little energy." Jazz coach Jerry Sloan waited to put in Millsap until the second half, so he could warm up, but didn't hesitate in having him go the distance.

"If you like to play, you like to play," Sloan said. "You get up and play."

Millsap, whose streak of double-doubles ended at 15, said he might go for an MRI exam depending how he felt this morning. With Boozer having missed 18 games and his return from an injured left knee uncertain, the Jazz can ill afford to lose Millsap as well.

As for the game, the Jazz gave up the last six points of the first half, then the first four points of the second half, and were in danger of being blown out as they trailed by 19 with 7:15 left in the third quarter.

But they scored 10 unanswered points to climb back in the game -- capped by a Harpring layup off an interior pass by Millsap -- and went into the fourth quarter down only 69-64 after Williams drove for a layup.

With Milwaukee shooting 1-for-16 from three-point range, the Jazz tied the score 77-77 with 7:08 to play as Williams and Kyle Korver hit back-to-back three-pointers and Kirilenko drained two free throws.

The Bucks, however, pushed in front for good as Redd and Richard Jefferson earned three trips to the line and converted six free throws. Redd led with 27 points but went 9 of 25 overall and 1 of 9 from three-point range; Jefferson had 10 points on 3-for-14 shooting.

"It's tough to make comebacks, especially on the road," Williams said. "It seems like you can always creep back in and be right there, but you can't get over that hump."

Millsap missed two free throws with 3:50 remaining and Kirilenko (22 points) was called for basket interference, missed two three-pointers and committed an offensive foul. If anything, the Jazz's comeback only made Tuesday's loss more disappointing.

"We felt like we should have won that game," Millsap said, "and certain plays at the end that we should have made that could have put it over the edge."

Williams finished with 17 points and six assists, but shot 5 of 17 and committed seven turnovers. "When you look like that at the end of the night," Williams said, pointing to the red marks on his arms, "and you go to the line six times, that's what happens."

rsiler@sltrib.com Storylines

In short ? The Jazz's loss to Milwaukee was overshadowed by Paul Millsap's knee injury and return in the second half.

Key moment ? Richard Jefferson and Michael Redd hit jumpers in the last 2:25 to end the Jazz's comeback bid.

Key stat ? The Jazz finished 2-3 for their fourth losing pre-Christmas trip in the last five years.