Posted: 2:58 pm CDT July 19, 2011

View the discussion thread.blog comments powered by

MILWAUKEE (AP) – The Milwaukee Bucks will host the NBA Champion Dallas Mavericks on Dec. 15 and the Miami Heat on Feb. 15 and March 22 as part of the NBA schedule released Tuesday.

The Bucks’ home opener will be against the New York Knicks on Saturday, Nov. 5 as the first of 17 weekend home games on the 2011-12 schedule.

Milwaukee begins the season on the road for the 27th consecutive year with games against San Antonio on Wednesday, Nov. 2 and Charlotte on Friday, Nov. 4.

The NBA released its schedule despite a current lockout after the league’s collective bargaining agreement expired June 30.

Read More: Andrew Bogut (C – MIL), Milwaukee Bucks, Minnesota Timberwolves

The Minnesota Timberwolves and Milwaukee Bucks have discussed a trade involving Andrew Bogut and the Wolves’ No. 2 pick in Thursday’s 2011 NBA Draft, reports Darren Wolfson of ESPN 1500 in Minneapolis. Wolfson cites multiple sources who say the teams have discussed the deal, and that Milwaukee apparently initiated the talks.

Bogut was a third team All-NBA performer in 2009-10; he suffered a broken arm late in that season that has yet to fully heal. His 2010-11 campaign was a disappointment attributable to that injury, which killed his shooting ability. Bogut is due $39 million over the next three seasons, but is one of the few legit potentiall All-Star centers in the league. He was the league’s top shotblocker in 2011, and has finished in the top 10 in the league in total rebound percentage in each of the past two seasons.

The Bucks have the No. 10 pick in Thursday’s draft. Wolfson reports that in the discussed trade, that pick would apparently be going to the Wolves along with Bogut.

MILWAUKEE — Aaron McKie remembers being popped by an elbow on the side of his head and finishing the game in Los Angeles anyway. Things started going badly a few hours later.

“I was watching TV but I wasn’t really watching. I got up, went to the bathroom, didn’t have an appetite, and I went and spit in the toilet and blood came out,” said McKie, a longtime NBA guard and now a 76ers assistant coach. “I went to the hospital and I had a mild concussion.”

Still, McKie said, he played the next game because “concussions weren’t a big thing at that time.”

The NBA told The Associated Press this week it has been working with an independent neurologist to establish a league-wide concussion policy and return-to-play protocols. A policy could be in place before the start of next season.

Players and former players who spoke with the AP say they would welcome the move after years of head-jarring hits and a feeling among some, like McKie, that they needed to play on.

“They have to,” Milwaukee Bucks center Andrew Bogut said of a formal policy. “It should’ve been done years ago.”

Added Magic coach Stan Van Gundy: “I think it’s a great idea in all the sports.”

“We’re dealing with a very dangerous thing,” the coach said. “The more they’ve learned about concussions, especially the danger of not recovering from concussions before you’re back to activity tells you that every sport has to be very conscious of it.”

Bogut, a former No. 1 pick now in his sixth season, figures he’s had “five to 10″ concussions in his pro career, including three after breaking his nose three different times. He said he’d like to see “mandatory” testing in the preseason to establish benchmarks to evaluate when a player is ready to return from a concussion.

Sitting out even without clear symptoms is OK with him.

“Brain injuries are nothing to play with, no matter what,” he said. “If you want to call a guy soft for sitting out with a concussion, you’re an idiot.”

Reigning NBA Rookie of the Year Tyreke Evans missed five games for Sacramento last season after being elbowed in the face and said it was hard to stay out of action.

“That was a situation where at the time I really wanted to play,” Evans said. “Maybe in the long run it was best that I didn’t.”

“

I’m all for it. I was just talking to my wife and saying there’s been a lot of concussions lately in basketball. We’ve had a few on our team, alone, so I think it’s a good thing they’re looking at it.

” – John Salmons on a possible NBA concussion policy

All-Star Chris Paul sustained the most recent concussion in the NBA when his forehead hit Cavaliers guard Ramon Sessions’ shoulder on Sunday. The Hornets’ guard was taken from the court on the stretcher and the team has hired a neurologist to monitor Paul’s condition. Paul returned to practice on Thursday, but is not yet cleared to play.

Cavaliers coach Byron Scott said he can remember Magic Johnson getting a concussion and the 1987 playoff collision between Pistons teammates Vinnie Johnson and Adrian Dantley that knocked both players out of a game.

Current players say they think the game is less violent than the physical teams of the ’80s and ’90s. But Scott, who doesn’t recall ever having a concussion in his playing days, said today’s players are bigger, stronger and faster — and that the collisions have become more violent.

“It’s a good thing that the league is taking a serious look into concussions because again, we don’t have helmets, this is something probably that should’ve been put in place a while back, but obviously it takes time and when something like this happens, I think the commissioner has done a real good job of jumping on it,” Scott said. “Hopefully we’ll have something in place.”

Timberwolves coach Kurt Rambis, who was known for his scrappy, hard-nosed play during his 14-year career, said that he could’ve had several concussions and had no idea.

“They didn’t test us for anything back then. No MRIs, X-rays. If the bone was sticking out they might say, ‘Yeah, you need an X-ray,’” Rambis said. “There was probably a lot of cases where guys may or may not have, but the diagnostic testing is much more accurate now and there’s much more intensity to getting players checked for everything and anything than there was back then.”

In the NBA, six players have missed games in the past four weeks with concussions or concussion-like symptoms. The injuries, and particularly the incident involving Paul, have gotten the attention of many players.

They say they’re looking to the league to protect them.

“I’m all for it,” Bucks guard John Salmons said. “I was just talking to my wife and saying there’s been a lot of concussions lately in basketball. We’ve had a few on our team, alone, so I think it’s a good thing they’re looking at it.”

Sessions, who didn’t know he was the one who Paul ran into until his shoulder hurt the next day, said he hasn’t been a part of any educational programs geared toward players learning the warning signs of concussions.

Hornets guard Willie Green, though, talked extensively about the materials he received about the dangers of head injuries in both Philadelphia and New Orleans.

“They pass out handbooks that give you ideas or things to do if you symptoms or if you feel nauseous or what have you — if you get a concussion, these are the steps,” Green said. “The doctors and our training staff, they’re going to do a great job and take you through all the tests that you need.”

Currently, the NBA tracks concussions, but leaves it up to teams to determine the guidelines for when a player can return to the court. Wizards coach Flip Saunders said he believes the franchises do everything they can to make sure the players won’t put themselves at risk.

“There’s a policy here even on fevers. If you have a fever over 101.5 or whatever, we don’t let guys with that sort of fever play because of where you can be with heat,” he said. “So whatever they do, anything to protect players from being further hurt, I think everyone in the league’s all for that.”

For Bogut, the contact in the NBA is as serious as any other pro sport given the elbows and lack of head protection. He fears some players feel they must stay in games and keep their symptoms quiet.

“I’ve probably played through something like that when I was a rookie, a bit naive. I wanted to play every game. I’ve gotten to a point where I want to play every game, but it’s stupid to put my body in harm for 10, 15 years down the track. It’s only money,” he said. “If someone’s going to take my spot because I miss time with a concussion and I’m out of the rotation, so be it.”

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press

Brandon Jennings scored 23 points and Andrew Bogut had 14 points, nine rebounds amd seven assists in his first game back after an injury to help the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Washington Wizards 95-76 on Tuesday night.John Salmons had 22 points for the Bucks, who ended a two-game losing streak. Jennings scored 10 points in the third quarter and the Bucks led 75-52 after three.Rookie Jordan Crawford had a career-high 22 points for the Wizards, who have lost nine of their last 10.Bogut returned to the Bucks’ starting lineup after missing three games with a muscle strain in his left ribcage area. He played 33 minutes and scored six straight points for Milwaukee midway through the second quarter.The Bucks closed the period with a 21-6 run for a 51-36 halftime lead, capped by Jennings’ 3-point buzzer-beater.Wizards forward Andray Blatche left the game with a sprained right shoulder with 8:46 remaining in the first quarter.Blatche was battling Luc Mbah a Moute and Jennings to maintain possession of the ball when he fell hard on his right shoulder. Blatche walked to the locker room clutching his shoulder and did not return.The Wizards pulled of a rare feat in the NBA by having five rookies on the court together – John Wall, Crawford, Trevor Booker, Hamady Ndiaye and Mustafa Shakur at one point. The last team to use an only rookie lineup was the Houston Rockets on March 1, 2010.The Miami Heat also played five rookies against the Toronto Raptors on April 14, 2008.The Wizards dressed 11 players and were without forwards Rashard Lewis (sore right knee), Josh Howard (strained left hamstring) and Cartier Martin (right patella tendinitis).NOTES: Saunders endorsed Chicago Bulls G Derrick Rose for the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award. “Rose is the bomb,” Saunders said. “I’ve never seen a guy improve his perimeter shooting so much in one year. He probably won’t get it because people are talking so much about MVP, but he should be the most improved player in the league. Who has improved more than him in this league? I don’t think anybody has.” … Ten of the Bucks’ 16 games in March are at home. … Ndiaye, who entered the game with 12 minutes played this season, played six minutes on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Back-to-back games against the Washington Wizards and Cleveland Cavaliers could be just what the Milwaukee Bucks need to remain in the playoff race.

Brandon Jennings scored 23 points and Andrew Bogut had 14 points, nine rebounds and a season-high seven assists in his first game back after an injury to help the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Washington Wizards 95-76 on Tuesday night.

Coupled with Indiana’s 110-100 loss at Philadelphia on Tuesday, the Bucks trail the Pacers by 2 1/2 games for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

On Wednesday, the Bucks travel to Cleveland, where the Cavaliers are 8-24 this season.

John Salmons had 22 points for the Bucks, who ended a two-game losing streak. Jennings scored 10 points in the third quarter and the Bucks led 75-52 after three.

“We kind of were on cruise control a little bit,” said Jennings, who sat the entire fourth quarter alongside backcourt mate Salmons. “Our bench played great. Also John played great, and Bogut, with his first game back. … We’ve got to go on and get Cleveland tomorrow and Philly with the next game.”

Rookie Jordan Crawford had a career-high 22 points for the Wizards, who have lost nine of their last 10.

Bogut returned to the Bucks’ starting lineup after missing three games with a muscle strain in his left ribcage area. He played 33 minutes and scored six straight points for Milwaukee midway through the second quarter.

“I felt good,” Bogut said. “My wind was good, conditioning was good. We moved the ball, we shared the ball, we hit some fast-break easy baskets, and we defended. … We don’t want to get stuck in that game of checking the standings every day. We just need to go out and play and win the games we’re supposed to.”

The Bucks closed the second quarter with a 21-6 run for a 51-36 halftime lead, capped by Jennings’ 3-pointer at the buzzer.

“We came out the second half with energy again and got a big lead,” Bucks coach Scott Skiles said. “We moved the ball well again tonight – maybe even a couple times in the first half to a fault. We played unselfish tonight and as a result got a good win. We’re trying to move up, so we’re happy about that.

“If you’re trying to catch people, you’ve got to keep the pressure on them.”

Wizards forward Andray Blatche left the game with a sprained right shoulder with 8:46 remaining in the first quarter.

Blatche was battling Luc Mbah a Moute and Jennings to maintain possession of the ball when he fell hard on his right shoulder. Blatche walked to the locker room clutching his shoulder and did not return. He will undergo an MRI on Wednesday, Wizards coach Flip Saunders said.

“We already got all our small forwards out,” said Nick Young, who had 10 points and five turnovers for the Wizards. “Dray goes down – crazy.”

The Wizards pulled off a rare feat in the NBA by having five rookies on the court together – John Wall, Crawford, Trevor Booker, Hamady Ndiaye and Mustafa Shakur at one point late in the first quarter and early in the second. The last team to use an only rookie lineup was the Houston Rockets on March 1, 2010.

“That was probably our best stint, to be honest,” Saunders said. “They competed, and we had really a pretty good stretch at that time.”

The Miami Heat also played five rookies against the Toronto Raptors on April 14, 2008.

“I didn’t even know until the coaches said it at halftime,” Crawford said. “We played with a lot of hustle, got back into the game, but unfortunately with young players like us sometimes there are slipups, so we couldn’t maintain keeping up with them and they got out to a good lead.”

The Wizards dressed 11 players and were without forwards Rashard Lewis (sore right knee), Josh Howard (strained left hamstring) and Cartier Martin (right patella tendinitis).

Notes: Saunders endorsed Chicago Bulls G Derrick Rose for the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award. “Rose is the bomb,” Saunders said. “I’ve never seen a guy improve his perimeter shooting so much in one year. He probably won’t get it because people are talking so much about MVP, but he should be the most improved player in the league. Who has improved more than him in this league? I don’t think anybody has.” … Ten of the Bucks’ 16 games in March are at home. … Ndiaye, who entered the game with 12 minutes played this season, played six minutes on Tuesday. … The Wizards’ 22 turnovers were three shy of their season high.

The Chicago Bulls stayed put at the trading deadline, feeling confident in their current roster. Their upcoming road trip could show whether that was a wise decision.

Chicago opens a five-game trip Saturday night, trying to avoid a third straight loss at the Bradley Center to the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Bulls (39-17) have won five of six and gone 14-4 since Jan. 14 to stay within reach of Boston and Miami for the Eastern Conference lead.

Chicago’s comfort with team chemistry may be a big reason why it did not make any moves before the trading deadline passed Thursday.

Hours after staying quiet, the Bulls made a statement by defeating the Heat 93-89. Derrick Rose(notes) scored 26 points and Luol Deng(notes) finished with 20, hitting a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 16 seconds left.

“It just lets people know that we can compete with some of the best teams in the NBA,” said Rose, who scored 12 points in the third quarter and 16 in the second half.

Neither team shot particularly well, but the Bulls outrebounded the Heat 53-39 and held them to 40.5 percent shooting, one night after giving up 118 points in a loss at Toronto.

Joakim Noah(notes) helped on the boards. Playing his second game back after missing 30 because of thumb surgery, Noah finished with seven points and eight rebounds, doing much of his damage defensively against Chris Bosh(notes), who missed 17 of 18 shots.

With Noah back to give Chicago a healthy roster and the chance to improve an already solid defense, the team feels it has the pieces to compete with the Celtics and Heat.

“We like our team,” general manager Gar Forman told the Bulls’ official website before Thursday’s victory. “We’ve got a very good basketball team. We want to be smart with the moves we make.”

Saturday opens a critical road trip for Chicago, which will continue on to Washington, Atlanta, Orlando and Miami. It has lost its last two trips to Milwaukee by a combined five points.

The Bulls, who are 11-0 against Central Division opponents, won both games against the Bucks this season at home, including a 92-83 victory Jan. 24.

Milwaukee (22-35) is also opening an important stretch with its next four games coming at home. The Bucks are in 10th place in the East, chasing Indiana and Charlotte for the final playoff spot.

They’ll look to bounce back from a 114-108 loss at New York on Wednesday. Milwaukee is one of the league’s best defensive teams, holding opponents to an average of 93.1 points, but it gave up its second-highest point total of the season to the Carmelo Anthony(notes)-led Knicks, who shot 50.0 percent.

Despite the lack of defense, the Bucks, who are scoring 91.7 points per game, scored 100 points for the second time in 13 games and kept the game close until late.

“We did a better job in the second half, but overall it wasn’t our typical defensive game we play,” coach Scott Skiles said. “There is very fine line between winning and losing in this league and there are plays at those moments that need to be made.”

John Salmons(notes), whom the Bulls traded to Milwaukee last season, scored 27 points Wednesday and is averaging 22.0 with 6.3 assists in his last four games.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder, is sitting out Friday night’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks with a sprained right ankle.

Randolph, who averages 20.2 points and 13.2 rebounds, injured the ankle near the end of the Grizzlies’ 105-101 overtime win at Oklahoma City on Tuesday night. He finished, but hobbled through the final seconds.

Memphis already was without reserve shooting guard O.J. Mayo, serving a 10-game suspension for violating the league’s performance-enhancing drug policy.

Rudy Gay, Memphis’ second-leading scorer, was expected to play after missing a game with a sprained right big toe.

For Milwaukee, reserves Larry Sanders (back spasms) and Chris Douglas-Roberts (virus) were out.

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

The Milwaukee Bucks have averaged 107.3 points against the Raptors in their last seven games despite having the worst offence in the league. (Ron Turenne/NBAE/Getty Images)

Despite their recent struggles, the Milwaukee Bucks’ postseason hopes remain very much alive. They’ll look to get back on track with a nonthreatening upcoming schedule.

The Bucks will try to avoid matching a season-worst five-game losing streak when they host the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday night.

After coming up empty on its three-game road trip, Milwaukee fell 89-78 to visiting Detroit on Saturday night, prompting a blunt assessment from centre Andrew Bogut.

“There’s no excuse for our effort, we played terribly offensively, defensively,” said Bogut, who had 18 points and nine rebounds. “Talent doesn’t cut it in this league. We’re a talented team, but we’re not good enough at the moment.

“Whether we find that in practice, or we find it wherever we find it, we need to find it before Tuesday. We have two winnable games coming up; we’ll go from there.”

The Bucks (19-30), who are 2 ½ games behind Indiana for eighth place in the Eastern Conference, have a chance to improve their position with four of their next five contests against opponents who currently own losing records — including a meeting with struggling Washington on Wednesday.

While Bogut was one of only two players to record double-digit points Saturday, it was a different story Jan. 28, when Milwaukee posted its highest scoring output of the season in a 116-110 overtime win at Toronto.

Six players had at least 10 points while Bogut scored 24 and Corey Maggette and Ersan Ilyasova recorded season bests with 29 and 25, respectively.

Brandon Jennings, who leads the team with 15.8 points per game, has averaged just 5.2 on 25.6 per cent shooting over five contests since returning from a 19-game absence due to a broken foot.

Milwaukee’s 91.3 points per game rank last in the league but it could take advantage of a Raptors defence allowing an average of 105.3 points during a nine-game road losing streak.

Carlos Delfino, whom the Raptors dealt to Milwaukee in 2009, is averaging 15.0 points in four games against his former team since the trade.

Toronto hasn’t lost 10 straight as the visiting team within one season since a franchise-worst 11-game slide Dec. 1, 2004-Jan. 14, 2005.

The Raptors (14-37) snapped a season-worst 13-game overall losing streak with a 111-100 win Friday night over Minnesota thanks in large part to Andrea Bargnani’s 30 points.

Bargnani, who is averaging a team-best 21.1 points, was limited to 13.0 per game on 23.5 per cent shooting over his previous three contests. He is averaging just 9.8 points at Milwaukee over his career.

Amir Johnson, who was acquired by Toronto in the Delfino deal, also came up big Friday with 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting with 12 rebounds.

“Amir was unbelievable,” coach Jay Triano said. “His line is almost perfect basketball for a power forward.”

Johnson is averaging 18.4 points — 8.0 more than his season mark — and 10.2 boards over his last five games, including a season-high 24-point effort with 12 rebounds in the Jan. 28 loss to the Bucks.

Leandro Barbosa, averaging 13.4 points, has missed the Raptors’ last 12 games with a strained right hamstring but practised Monday and could return in this one.

The Bucks have taken five of seven in the series while averaging 107.3 points.

Despite their recent struggles, the Milwaukee Bucks’ postseason hopes remain very much alive. They’ll look to get back on track with a nonthreatening upcoming schedule.

The Bucks will try to avoid matching a season-worst five-game losing streak when they host the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday night.

After coming up empty on its three-game road trip, Milwaukee fell 89-78 to visiting Detroit on Saturday night, prompting a blunt assessment from center Andrew Bogut(notes).

“There’s no excuse for our effort, we played terribly offensively, defensively,” said Bogut, who had 18 points and nine rebounds. “Talent doesn’t cut it in this league. We’re a talented team, but we’re not good enough at the moment.

“Whether we find that in practice, or we find it wherever we find it, we need to find it before Tuesday. We have two winnable games coming up; we’ll go from there.”

The Bucks (19-30), who are 2 1/2 games behind Indiana for eighth place in the Eastern Conference, have a chance to improve their position with four of their next five contests against opponents who currently own losing records – including a meeting with struggling Washington on Wednesday.

While Bogut was one of only two players to record double-digit points Saturday, it was a different story Jan. 28, when Milwaukee posted its highest scoring output of the season in a 116-110 overtime win at Toronto.

Six players had at least 10 points while Bogut scored 24 and Corey Maggette(notes) and Ersan Ilyasova(notes) recorded season bests with 29 and 25, respectively.

Brandon Jennings(notes), who leads the team with 15.8 points per game, has averaged just 5.2 on 25.6 percent shooting over five contests since returning from a 19-game absence due to a broken foot.

Milwaukee’s 91.3 points per game rank last in the league but it could take advantage of a Raptors defense allowing an average of 105.3 points during a nine-game road losing streak.

Carlos Delfino(notes), whom the Raptors dealt to Milwaukee in 2009, is averaging 15.0 points in four games against his former team since the trade.

Toronto hasn’t lost 10 straight as the visiting team within one season since a franchise-worst 11-game slide Dec. 1, 2004-Jan. 14, 2005.

The Raptors (14-37) snapped a season-worst 13-game overall losing streak with a 111-100 win Friday night over Minnesota thanks in large part to Andrea Bargnani’s(notes) 30 points.

Bargnani, who is averaging a team-best 21.1 points, was limited to 13.0 per game on 23.5 percent shooting over his previous three contests. He is averaging just 9.8 points at Milwaukee over his career.

Amir Johnson(notes), who was acquired by Toronto in the Delfino deal, also came up big Friday with 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting with 12 rebounds.

“Amir was unbelievable,” coach Jay Triano said. “His line is almost perfect basketball for a power forward.”

Johnson is averaging 18.4 points – 8.0 more than his season mark – and 10.2 boards over his last five games, including a season-high 24-point effort with 12 rebounds in the Jan. 28 loss to the Bucks.

Leandro Barbosa(notes), averaging 13.4 points, has missed the Raptors’ last 12 games with a strained right hamstring but practiced Monday and could return in this one.

The Bucks have taken five of seven in the series while averaging 107.3 points.

PHOENIX — Even at full strength, the Milwaukee Bucks don’t win in Phoenix. Short-handed, they really had no shot.

Marcin Gortat had 19 points and 11 rebounds and the Suns beat icy Milwaukee 92-77 on Wednesday night for the Bucks’ 23rd consecutive loss in Phoenix.

The Bucks, with Andrew Bogut a game-time scratch because of a bruised knee and Drew Gooden out four to six weeks for foot surgery, shot a season-low 31 percent and had to heat up in the fourth quarter to get the number that high.

Milwaukee trailed 52-31 at the half and was down by as many as 25 in the third quarter. Trailing 71-53 after three, the Bucks started the fourth quarter with a 12-4 run to cut it to 74-65 but got no closer.

“It was a very humbling game,” Milwaukee coach Scott Skiles said. “Obviously we were short-handed but we didn’t have a ton of energy and we didn’t have great focus. We looked like mummies in the first half a little bit the way we were walking around out there.”

Corey Maggette and Ersan Ilyasova each scored 15 points for the Bucks. Grant Hill scored 16 and Jared Dudley 15 for the Suns. Channing Frye added 14 points and 13 rebounds.

Steve Nash had nine points and 13 assists, but a season-high nine turnovers.

Gortat, part of the six-player trade with Orlando in mid-December, topped 16 points for the fourth game in a row. He had reached a career high in each of the previous three games, topped by 25 against New Orleans on Sunday.

“I already said many times, my confidence is pretty big right now,” he said. “I have a lot of fun from playing basketball, my mind is really free right now, comparing to the ex-team. It’s just fun. Playing with Steve Nash, he’s going to always find you. I would say he’s 50 percent, at least 50 percent, of the success for me.”

Milwaukee’s futility streak in Phoenix is the second-worst active skid in the NBA, behind Golden State’s 25 straight losses in San Antonio. Since the Warriors and Spurs play more often, the Bucks’ streak is much longer chronologically. Milwaukee last won in Phoenix on Feb. 21, 1987.

(2 of 2)

The Bucks shot 24 percent in the first half (11 of 45). Their 31 points matched their second low for a half and was a season low for a Phoenix opponent.

The Suns, winners of three in a row and eight of 11, never trailed. Milwaukee made 4 of 20 shots in the second quarter to allow Phoenix to build its 21-point lead at the break. Frye’s 3-pointer started a 6-0 spurt that gave the Suns their biggest lead at 62-37 with 2:19 left in the third quarter.

Coach Alvin Gentry had to put Nash and his other starters back in after Maggette’s 15-footer cut the lead to 74-65 with 8:32 to play.

Milwaukee got it to single digits once more when Earl Boykins’ 13-footer made it 76-67 with 7 1/2 minutes left. But Hill scored four straight and Nash curled in for a finger-roll layup to put the Suns back in control.

The Phoenix franchise record for an opponent’s field goal percentage, 26.3 percent by Denver on April 1, 2003, seemed to be within reach when the Bucks were at 27.1 percent (19 of 70) through three quarters. But Milwaukee “warmed up” to 9 of 20 in the final quarter.

“We just haven’t been a good shooting team in the league the entire season,” Boykins said. “We’re last in the league in field goal percentage and tonight we came out and didn’t make shots. We shoot 31 percent, how do you win a basketball game shooting that way?”

Even at full strength, the Milwaukee Bucks don’t win in Phoenix. Short-handed, they really had no shot.

Marcin Gortat had 19 points and 11 rebounds and the Suns beat icy Milwaukee 92-77 on Wednesday night for the Bucks’ 23rd consecutive loss in Phoenix.

The Bucks, with Andrew Bogut a game-time scratch because of a bruised knee and Drew Gooden out four to six weeks for foot surgery, shot a season-low 31 percent and had to heat up in the fourth quarter to get the number that high.

Milwaukee trailed 52-31 at the half and was down by as many as 25 in the third quarter. Trailing 71-53 after three, the Bucks started the fourth quarter with a 12-4 run to cut it to 74-65 but got no closer.

“It was a very humbling game,” Milwaukee coach Scott Skiles said. “Obviously we were short-handed but we didn’t have a ton of energy and we didn’t have great focus. We looked like mummies in the first half a little bit the way we were walking around out there.”

Corey Maggette and Ersan Ilyasova each scored 15 points for the Bucks. Grant Hill scored 16 and Jared Dudley 15 for the Suns. Channing Frye added 14 points and 13 rebounds.

Steve Nash had nine points and 13 assists, but a season-high nine turnovers.

Gortat, part of the six-player trade with Orlando in mid-December, topped 16 points for the fourth game in a row. He had reached a career high in each of the previous three games, topped by 25 against New Orleans on Sunday.

“I already said many times, my confidence is pretty big right now,” he said. “I have a lot of fun from playing basketball, my mind is really free right now, comparing to the ex-team. It’s just fun. Playing with Steve Nash, he’s going to always find you. I would say he’s 50 percent, at least 50 percent, of the success for me.”

Milwaukee’s futility streak in Phoenix is the second-worst active skid in the NBA, behind Golden State’s 25 straight losses in San Antonio. Since the Warriors and Spurs play more often, the Bucks’ streak is much longer chronologically. Milwaukee last won in Phoenix on Feb. 21, 1987.

The Bucks shot 24 percent in the first half (11 of 45). Their 31 points matched their second low for a half and was a season low for a Phoenix opponent.

The Suns, winners of three in a row and eight of 11, never trailed. Milwaukee made 4 of 20 shots in the second quarter to allow Phoenix to build its 21-point lead at the break. Frye’s 3-pointer started a 6-0 spurt that gave the Suns their biggest lead at 62-37 with 2:19 left in the third quarter.

Coach Alvin Gentry had to put Nash and his other starters back in after Maggette’s 15-footer cut the lead to 74-65 with 8:32 to play.

Milwaukee got it to single digits once more when Earl Boykins’ 13-footer made it 76-67 with 7½ minutes left. But Hill scored four straight and Nash curled in for a finger-roll layup to put the Suns back in control.

The Phoenix franchise record for an opponent’s field goal percentage, 26.3 percent by Denver on April 1, 2003, seemed to be within reach when the Bucks were at 27.1 percent (19 of 70) through three quarters. But Milwaukee “warmed up” to 9 of 20 in the final quarter.

“We just haven’t been a good shooting team in the league the entire season,” Boykins said. “We’re last in the league in field goal percentage and tonight we came out and didn’t make shots. We shoot 31 percent, how do you win a basketball game shooting that way?”

Notes: Three of the players who played in the game — Robin Lopez, Brandon Jennings and Ersan Ilyasova — were not born the last time the Bucks won in Phoenix. … The Suns’ record for consecutive home wins against a single opponent is 24 against Sacramento from 1988 to 1998. … Bogut was hurt in the fourth quarter of Monday night’s loss to the Clippers in Los Angeles.

CHICAGO (AP)—While the Milwaukee Bucks were focused on stopping one of the league’s young stars, one of the NBA’s veterans gave the Chicago Bulls a big lift.

The 38-year-old Kurt Thomas(notes) scored 22 points and Derrick Rose(notes) added 21 points and 10 assists to lead the Bulls to a 92-83 win over the Bucks on Monday night.

“Kurt was hitting every shot and my job is to give it to him,” Rose said. “They were playing two people on me when I’d drive the ball, so I was throwing it to him every time.

“He’s the reason we won tonight.”

Thomas, who is in his 16th NBA season, scored his most points since Jan. 25, 2005, when he scored 24 points against the Phoenix Suns while playing for the New York Knicks.

“Has it been that long?” Thomas asked after the game. “My goodness. I was just out there having fun. Derrick draws so much attention that he was able to find me and I was able to knock down a few shots tonight.”

Thomas also had nine rebounds and five assists.

“They were really playing off me,” Thomas said. “I knocked down my first two or three shots, so I just continued to fire away.

“I’ve been known as a guy that hit can that shot my whole career but the last couple of years, my shot attempts have been down. If it’s there, I’m going to shoot it.”

Chris Douglas-Roberts(notes) scored a season-high 30 points, one shy of his career high, for the Bucks. Andrew Bogut(notes) had eight points and 18 rebounds and Ersan Ilyasova(notes) added 17 points.

“I just tried to bring a little bit of energy to keep us in the game,” Douglas-Roberts said. “If I’m not out there scoring and being aggressive, I’m really not of much value for us.”

In the fourth quarter, Milwaukee’s Luc Mbah a Moute closed the deficit to eight points with a layup.

Luol Deng(notes) answered with a layup and a 3-pointer, putting Chicago up 75-62 with nine minutes left in the game.

“We keep coming back to being up by a lot and then giving it back,” Deng said. “We’ve got to work on that.”

The Bucks twice cut the lead to seven as the Bulls once again fell into a fourth-quarter funk on the offensive end and Douglas-Roberts stayed hot for Milwaukee.

Carlos Boozer(notes) responded with five of his 14 points down the stretch, pushing the lead to 88-77 with 1:52 to play. Milwaukee got no closer than seven points the rest of the way.

Rose’s highlight-reel, twisting layup and subsequent free throw gave Chicago its biggest lead at 61-41 in the third quarter.

However, Douglas-Roberts got hot for Milwaukee, scoring 15 points in the third as the Bucks closed within 68-58 entering the final period.

“(Douglas-Roberts) got it going,” Bucks coach Scott Skiles said. “It’s great when he does.”

The Bulls led 19-18 after a sluggish first quarter before Thomas scored eight points in the first three minutes of the second quarter, helping Chicago establish a lead.

“We did a very respectable job on Rose, Deng and Boozer,” Skiles said. “We were too slow obviously getting back to Kurt. We fell for his pump fakes a little bit too much.”

Thomas played last season with the Bucks and he was the primary replacement at center after Bogut went down with a season-ending elbow injury.

“Kurt had a great night for them,” Bogut said. “He knows our stuff backwards, though. He knows where to get to and where our help is going to come from.”

C.J. Watson’s(notes) basket off a goaltending call capped a 10-0 run that put Chicago up 43-28. Rose finished the half with a layup at the buzzer, putting Chicago up 48-32 at the break.

The Bulls moved the ball well in the opening half and had 15 assists on their 17 first-half field goals. Bogut had 15 rebounds in the first half, 10 in the first quarter.

“(Ball movement) was the biggest thing (assistant coach Ron Adams) was talking about in the locker room,” Rose said. “In the first half of the season, we were moving the ball well, then we kind of slipped.”

Rose said that after Thomas got on his roll, he began calling for the ball on the offensive end.

“Yeah, sometimes,” Rose said. “You know Kurt. If he hits a couple of shots, then he wants it every time.”

Thomas is the elder statesman on a young Bulls team, but he showed that he’s more than just a locker room presence.

“I mad that he’s not a little bit younger so I could play with him a little bit more,” Rose said. “I just cherish the time I have with him now.”

The Bulls have played eight games over the past 13 days, but now have three days off before playing the Orlando Magic at home on Friday.

For Thomas, the league’s second-oldest player behind Boston’s Shaquille O’Neal(notes), the rest comes just in time.

“We’ve played a lot of games over the last three weeks,” Thomas said. “I definitely believe we’ll benefit from the three-day rest.”

Notes: Milwaukee’s Drew Gooden(notes) was a late scratch. He’s been battling plantar faciitis in his left foot for much of the season. John Salmons(notes), a former Bull, missed his fourth straight game with a hip injury. The Bucks are hopeful that Brandon Jennings(notes), who has been out since Dec. 18 with a left foot injury, will be cleared to practice on Tuesday. … The Bulls played their 21st straight game without center Joakim Noah(notes), who had surgery to repair torn ligaments in his right hand. Chicago is 15-6 in his absence. Noah is expected back after the All-Star break. … The Bulls improved to 10-0 against Central Division opponents. They are the league’s only team with a perfect mark against division opponents. … The Bulls are 26-1 when holding opponents to 95 points or fewer.