WASHINGTON (AP) – Brandon Jennings scored 17 of his 19 points in the third quarter and the Milwaukee Bucks pulled within two games of the Eastern Conference's final playoff spot Monday night with an unsightly 112-98 win over the Washington Wizards.
Evan Vucci, AP
Milwaukee Bucks point guard Brandon Jennings (3) drives past Washington Wizards forward Jan Vesely in Washington. Jennings contributed 19 points as the Bucks won 112-98.
Monta Ellis and Mike Dunleavy scored 17 points apiece, Ersan Ilyasova had 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Jennings added seven assists and six rebounds as Milwaukee tries to take advantage of a soft spot in the schedule in its pursuit of the eighth-place New York Knicks.
Six players scored in double figures for the Bucks, who shot 52 percent and outrebounded the Wizards 48-35. Milwaukee now returns home for a five-game homestand that starts with Cleveland, Charlotte and Portland — all teams with losing records.
Jordan Crawford scored 23 points to lead the Wizards, who again had to go with a young lineup while Nene and Trevor Booker recover from similar injuries — both have plantar fasciitis in the left foot. Rookie Jan Vesely scored a career-high 14 points, Kevin Seraphin had 15, and John Wall had 14 points, nine assists and six rebounds while shooting just 4 for 13.
Milwaukee stayed more or less in command after closing the first quarter with a 15-2 run that featured another round of Wizards follies. Rookie Shelvin Mack had an especially rough sequence, losing his dribble without provocation to give the Bucks a fast break, and then throwing the ball out of bounds — a pass to nobody in particular — on the next possession.
But the Bucks were making mistakes, as well. Ellis finished with five of the team's 19 turnovers, and the third quarter devolved into truly uninspiring basketball, with the teams combining for five turnovers in 38 seconds.
The Wizards threatened to make a game of it with a 9-0 run that cut the lead to two early in the third quarter, but Jennings then took over. He made two finger-roll layups and a pair of free throws in a 10-0 run, then hit another driving layup in a 6-0 spurt. Jennings' 17 points in the period wasn't far behind Washington's team total of 22.
The Wizards pulled within seven early in the fourth quarter on Roger Mason's 3-pointer, but the Bucks responded with a 21-7 run that put the game away.
Notes: Milwaukee G Beno Udrih sat out after injuring his left hand in Saturday's loss to Memphis, and F-G Carlos Defino missed his fourth consecutive game with an injured right groin. … The Bucks lead the season series 3-0 with one game remaining. … Washington ended a streak of nine straight games in which it allowed fewer than 100 points. The improved defense didn't translate into success in the standings: The Wizards went 2-7 during those games.
Rockets 99, Bulls 93
CHICAGO — Goran Dragic scored 21 points, Luis Scola added 18 points and 12 rebounds, and Houston rallied to beat Chicago, giving the Bulls back-to-back losses for the first time this season.
The Bulls had gone a franchise-record 86 regular-season games without dropping two in a row, second only to Utah's 95-game run in the late 1990s. But after getting mauled by Oklahoma City, they fell again for the second time in as many days, dropping a wild game that saw several major swings in momentum.
The Rockets trailed by as much as 15 in the first half and were down 13 in the third, but they went on a 14-1 run to tie it at 62 late in the quarter, and then had a 17-2 burst in the final minute of the third to take an 84-72 lead.
Chase Budinger chipped in with 13 points, hitting three big 3-pointers early in the fourth. Courtney Lee scored 13, and Marcus Camby had 12 points and 11 rebounds to help the Rockets bounce back from an overtime loss to Indiana on Sunday.
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