And Redd's Milwaukee Bucks teammates certainly could see it, so they kept giving him the ball to stoke his torrid first-half performance Friday night.

The veteran guard scored 28 of his game-high 31 points in the opening half, and the Bucks cruised to a 103-75 victory over the Bobcats in the first of back-to-back meetings between the teams, with the game tonight in Charlotte.

Redd said he wasn't even aware that Jordan, a part-owner of the Charlotte franchise, was among the Bradley Center crowd of 15,107.

"It was good to see him," Redd said. "Obviously, he'll put something in my ear tomorrow, before the game or something.

"Last time I played here (against Detroit) I was 2 for 11. You have nights like that. Tonight was just the opposite.

"It was a great job of my teammates finding me, and I had a good rhythm tonight."

Redd didn't even play in the fourth quarter as the Bucks held a 76-57 lead after three periods and coasted to their fifth victory in seven games. Charlie Villanueva, responding after a one-point outing in Houston on Wednesday, had 27 points in 29 minutes off the bench.

Forward Richard Jefferson contributed 18 points and six rebounds, and the Bucks' solid effort allowed coach Scott Skiles to limit ailing center Andrew Bogut to 27 minutes.

Bogut, who had two points and five rebounds, was bothered by back spasms and said he was uncertain if he could play in the second game of the back-to-back set tonight.

Redd had 23 points in the first 15 minutes as he mixed three-pointers and slashing drives to the basket.

"He did a great job of being aggressive," Jefferson said. "He's one of those guys in this league, when he gets going, there's not too much a defense can really do."

Redd also passed Marques Johnson for fifth place on the Bucks' all-time scoring list and finished the night with 10,988 points in his career.

"Tonight, he had a hot hand," Bucks coach Scott Skiles said. "We've asked a lot of Michael so far this year, and he's done it. We've asked him not only to guard his individual man but be involved in our team defensive concept.

"He's become a way-above-average defender for us. There's a possibility, for a while, his offense may suffer, but he's too good of a player and too good of a shooter for that to last very long."

The Bucks finished the first half on a 13-2 run, getting five points each from Redd and Jefferson and a three-point play by point guard Luke Ridnour, to extend their lead to 56-44 at intermission.

"You just try to get him the ball and get out of the way, whether it's catch-and-shoot or off the dribble," Ridnour said.

"He can do it all. He can go on runs not many guys in the league can do. And it was quick, too."

Villanueva scored eight points in the third quarter and added 10 more in the final quarter.

The Bucks continued to play strong defense as they held an opponent under 90 points for the sixth time in the last seven games.

The Bobcats (11-22) shot just 38% from the field and were led by forward Boris Diaw's 16 points.

"The big test now is tomorrow night," Jefferson said. "It's going to be difficult (to sweep the two games), but that's what good teams do.

"It's a good test for us to do that. Orlando, the Lakers, the Celtics do that. You have to start somewhere."

JSOnline.com

Charles F. Gardner posts news, notes and analysis at jsonline.com/blogs/Bucks

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