MILWAUKEE — Andrew Bogut scored 17 points and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute had 14 points, 12 rebounds and five steals to lift the Milwaukee Bucks to a 102-74 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night.

The Bucks have been the worst-shooting, lowest-scoring team in the NBA, but were anything but for a third straight game to match their season-best winning streak.

Despite a trying season because of injuries to all five starters, the Bucks (26-38) are a half-game back of Indiana and Charlotte for the final spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

The Sixers (34-32) started off this five-game road trip with a dud despite 16 points from reserve Lou Williams. They remain comfortably in seventh place in the standings, but failed to gain ground on New York.

Brandon Jennings scored 15 points, Keyon Dooling 13 and Carlos Delfino 12 as the Bucks got contributions from all over and blew the game open in the first half. Philadelphia never got closer than 12 after halftime.

Jodie Meeks scored 13 points and Evan Turner and Andre Iguodala had 10 apiece, but the Sixers never seemed in sync with 21 turnovers. It was obvious during one ugly stretch in the third quarter.

Bogut was able to corral an offensive rebound with only his left hand by tapping it twice to himself, and as Elton Brand and Spencer Hawes converged, they got tangled up and fell to the ground. It gave Bogut a clear path for an uncontested layup.

Less than a minute later, Jrue Holiday sent an alley-oop pass in the direction of Iguodala, but Iguodala would’ve needed to get about 13 feet up in the air to finish the play.

PHILADELPHIA (74)

Iguodala 4-6 0-0 10, Brand 1-3 1-2 3, Hawes 3-8 0-0 6, Holiday 3-4 0-0 6, Meeks 5-10 0-0 13, Turner 5-12 0-0 10, Williams 6-12 3-3 16, Young 0-4 0-0 0, Speights 3-9 1-1 7, Battie 0-2 0-0 0, Brackins 0-5 0-0 0, Nocioni 1-3 1-2 3. Totals 31-78 6-8 74.

MILWAUKEE (102)

Delfino 5-9 0-0 12, Mbah a Moute 4-8 6-7 14, Bogut 7-12 3-5 17, Jennings 5-15 1-2 15, Salmons 3-6 0-0 6, Dooling 4-8 3-3 13, Sanders 4-6 0-2 8, Boykins 4-7 0-0 8, Douglas-Roberts 4-4 0-0 9, Brockman 0-0 0-0 0, Barron 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 40-76 13-19 102.

(Page 2 of 2)

Philadelphia 25 16 16 17 — 74

Milwaukee 26 33 21 22 — 102

3-Point Goals — Philadelphia 6-16 (Meeks 3-7, Iguodala 2-3, Williams 1-3, Nocioni 0-1, Brackins 0-2), Milwaukee 9-17 (Jennings 4-7, Dooling 2-4, Delfino 2-4, Douglas-Roberts 1-1, Boykins 0-1). Fouled Out — None. Rebounds — Philadelphia 40 (Hawes 7), Milwaukee 51 (Mbah a Moute 12). Assists — Philadelphia 23 (Iguodala 5), Milwaukee 27 (Boykins, Salmons 7). Total Fouls — Philadelphia 17, Milwaukee 15. A — 15,832 (18,717).

He never got close as the ball ricocheted off the backboard into the hands of Bogut for a turnover.

Bogut finished an alley-oop himself from John Salmons with a minute left in the third quarter that gave Milwaukee a 78-55 lead, and the 7-footer sat the final 10 minutes of the fourth quarter as the Bucks’ lead reached 34.

In the last three games, the Bucks are averaging 102.3 points, more than 10 above their season average, and shooting 50.4 percent after coming in making just 42.5 percent of their shots this season.

Milwaukee had pointed to this game as key after easy wins over hapless Washington and Cleveland. But a more formidable opponent looms Sunday night when the Bucks face Boston, tops in the Eastern Conference.

Milwaukee’s starting lineup of Bogut, Jennings, Mbah a Moute, Salmons and Delfino has missed a combined 77 games this season and the Bucks most recently have been without Drew Gooden (left foot plantar faciitis) and Ersan Ilyasova (concussion).

But, they may get much better soon.

Michael Redd (left knee) is expected to return in the next seven to 10 days and could provide a needed lift on offense down the stretch.

Notes: Milwaukee now has four three-game winning streaks this year. … Ilyasova is expected to begin light physical activity on Monday. He’s been out seven games so far. … After this five-game road trip, Philadelphia has just four more games left away from home.

Read More: Baron Davis (G – CLE), Ryan Hollins (C – CLE), John Salmons (G – MIL), Andrew Bogut (C – MIL), Carlos Delfino (F – MIL), J.J. Hickson (C – CLE), Brandon Jennings (G – MIL), Byron Scott (H – NOH), Samardo Samuels (F – CLE), Milwaukee Bucks, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, Cleveland Cavaliers

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The first quarter went fine for the Washington Wizards. The second quarter, though, was a different story. The Wizards were outscored 29-15 in the second quarter and trail the Milwaukee Bucks 51-36 at halftime. 

John Salmons has 18 points on 6-9 shooting to lead the Bucks, who really clamped down on the Wizards in the second quarter. The Wizards had just six made field goals in the quarter, with six turnovers there to boot. For the game, the Wizards are shooting just 33 percent from the field and have 11 turnovers.

With the score tied at 30, the Bucks went on an 11-2 run to take a 41-32 lead with 2:47 remaining. The Bucks then hit two straight three-pointers in the final minute, one by Salmons and one off the glass by Brandon Jennings at the buzzer to account for the halftime margin.

Jordan Crawford leads the Wizards with 11 points. The Wizards are playing without Rashard Lewis and Josh Howard, and also lost Andray Blatche to a shoulder injury early in the first quarter.

By Evan Dunlap – Contributor

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Mar 4, 2011 - The Milwaukee Bucks, led by trade-deadline acquisition John Salmons, all-around center Andrew Bogut, and coach Scott Skiles, surged into last season’s NBA playoffs on a 29-12 run. They eventually took the Atlanta Hawks to a decisive seventh game in their first-round matchup, doing so without Bogut, who suffered a gruesome arm injury near the end of the regular season. Had he been healthy, the Bucks may have pulled off the upset.

Entering the offseason, they had a clear goal: upgrade the offense. Milwaukee ranked 25th in the league in offensive efficiency last season, at 104.9 points per possession, despite knocking down threes at a high volume. The issue, everyone seemed to agree, was foul-drawing, as the Bucks finished the season ranked last in the NBA in made freebies and second-to-last in attempts. If they got to the line more often, they could offset their deficiency as jump-shooters and Bogut’s underrated, but still incomplete, offensive game.

In acquiring foul magnet Corey Maggette and offensive rebounding expert Drew Gooden, the Bucks addressed those issues. Maggette has made a career out of driving head-down into defenders for fouls, and while Gooden isn’t nearly as prolific at getting hacked, his presence in heavy traffic under the rim can still help in that regard. Despite adding those two players, the Bucks now have the league’s worst offense, scoring 101.1 points per 100 possessions. The reason is simple: nobody can shoot. At all.

Of the 16 Bucks to take the court this season, only Jon Brockman has an effective field-goal percentage–a metric which adjusts for three-point shooting–over the league average of 49.7 percent. His 55.6 percent figure is fantastic in and of itself. However, because he’s a rebounding specialist who averages one shot attempt every 7.5 minutes, it’s very nearly as though the Bucks don’t have a single competent shooter.

Brandon Jennings, Salmons, and Carlos Delfino lead Milwaukee in shot attempts per game. They rank 12th, 11th, and 5th on the team in effective field-goal shooting. Skiles’ go-to players simply can’t score efficiently. Not even Bogut, whose combination of minutes played, offensive involvement, and scoring ineptitude puts him in some unflattering company among centers.

To be fair to Milwaukee, though, injuries have played a key role in derailing its season. Delfino missed 32 games with a concussion; Gooden hasn’t played since January 21st with a nagging plantar fascia issue; Jennings’ broken foot pressed Keyon Dooling into the starting lineup 22 times; Salmons missed all of training camp with a sore knee; and Bogut’s nasty spill from last season has taken a toll on him this one, as he told SB Nation colleague Mike Prada just prior to the All-Star Break.

To Skiles’ credit, he still has the Bucks defending at an elite level, as they rank behind only the Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls, and Orlando Magic in defensive efficiency. However, it takes more than defense to win in this league, and the Bucks’ NBA-worst offense won’t be enough to get them into the postseason despite a $68 million payroll.

Perhaps they can try their luck again next season, when everyone figures to be healthier. Given that, there’s no reason why a team with Bogut, Salmons, and Maggette can’t at least be league-average at the offensive end.

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MILWAUKEE — Carlos Delfino and the Milwaukee Bucks finally found something they believe they can build on.

Delfino scored 21 of his 26 points in the second half and made a career-high seven three-pointers to lead the Bucks to a 102-78 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night.

“It’s huge,” Delfino said. “When we play together, we’re a different team, we can make a run.”

Everyone certainly pitched in for the short-handed Bucks, who came in losers of seven of eight.

John Salmons added 16 points and tied a career-high with 12 assists for Milwaukee, Brandon Jennings scored 20 points to match his best performance since returning from surgery and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

“We keep saying we need to make this push and it’s right now,” Mbah a Moute said. “Tonight was one of the best night’s we’ve played in a while.”

Mbah a Moute did an admirable job trying to slow Clippers’ star Blake Griffin, who still finished with 19 points, 12 rebounds and six assists.

“I doubt anybody’s going to guard him any better than that one on one,” Bucks coach Scott Skiles said. “Luc did a great job on him, no question.”

The Clippers are 1-6 on this marathon 11-game, 21-day road trip that encompasses the Grammys and the all-star break.

“It’s just been tough on this road trip,” said Griffin, who has 46 double-doubles in 55 games.

Delfino hit five of Milwaukee’s six three-pointers in the fourth quarter, including three in a four-minute stretch as the Bucks used a 14-1 run to take an 85-68 lead. The Bucks shot 51 percent overall and 11 of 26 from three-point range. Delfino made seven of his 10 attempts from beyond the arc.

“That’s how we’ve wanted to play all year — find the open man and he’s knocking down shots,” Salmons said. “That makes all the difference.”

The Bucks continue to be hampered by injuries and were without Corey Maggette (back) and Drew Gooden (left foot). They lost Ersan Ilyasova (right eye) early in the first quarter.

Jennings didn’t escape unscathed either. He sported a large bandage above his right eye in the third quarter after apparently getting scratched.

Still, Milwaukee blistered the Clippers down the stretch even without Andrew Bogut, who finished with 10 points but fouled out early in the fourth quarter.

Jennings was a catalyst for Milwaukee’s plodding offense.

On one play, Jennings found Mbah a Moute, who flipped a pass around Griffin to Bogut for an emphatic slam that made it 43-30 late in the first half. He kept it going from there.

“He forced me to run. That’s good, that’s what we need,” Salmons said. “We need to get out, get rebounds and run and try to get easy baskets.”

Baron Davis scored 22 points and Randy Foye finished with 16 for the Clippers, who fell to 4-21 on the road this season. Both Griffin and Davis provided plenty of highlights.

Griffin hardly flinched when the 6-foot-1, 169-pound Jennings tried to block a dunk attempt on what turned into a three-point play, but Los Angeles failed to extend a 58-57 lead following a layup by Foye.

And the Clippers fell apart again in the final period.

“The fourth quarters kill us. When the game gets a little tight we don’t execute as well,” Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said. “There is no miracle pill for it. There is no quick answer. It’s just staying together.”

The crowd booed loudly just before halftime when the Clippers got out on a two-on-zero fastbreak and Foye took an uncontested layup instead of giving the ball to Griffin for a potential dunk.

Griffin gave a crowd eager to see his high-flying abilities a show in the final minute when Davis lobbed a half-court alley-oop pass to the former No. 1 overall pick, who slammed it over a helpless Delfino.

But it wouldn’t take long for the sharpshooter to get the best of the Clippers.

“We just have to remember how this feels,” Salmons said. “We have to love winning, love the feeling of winning and know how we did it. We need to know that we moved the ball, we played great defense, we had a game plan and we executed to the fullest.”

Notes

Los Angeles was outscored 31-13 in the fourth quarter. … It was the first time in nine games that Milwaukee scored 100 points or more. … Ilyasova left after being hit in the right eye early in the first quarter. He did not return.