Jennings scores 32 to lift Bucks over Bobcats
MILWAUKEE (AP)
-- Brandon Jennings helped the Milwaukee Bucks escape with a much-needed win.
Jennings scored 32 points and made two free throws with 5.7 seconds left to seal a 104-101 victory for the Bucks over the Charlotte Bobcats on Saturday night and snap a five-game losing streak.
The short-handed Bucks needed everyone to step up, and they did.
The Bucks were without starters Andrews Bogut and Drew Gooden, and reserve Corey Maggette.
Bogut missed his third game because of back spasms. Gooden was out with plantar fasciitis in his left foot and Maggette has left ankle soreness.
"We should have taken advantage of it, but we didn't come through," D.J. Augustin said. He tied his season-high with 26 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter when the Bobcats erased a 13-point deficit and made the game close.
Jennings led six in double figures.
Ersan Ilyasova had 17 points before fouling out on the Gerald Wallace play late in the fourth. John Salmons added 16, Luc Mbah a Moute 12, Larry Sanders 10 and Chris Douglas-Roberts 11.
"A lot of guys stepped up big tonight," Jennings said after season-highs with six 3-pointers and 13 attempts.
The Bucks caught a big break when Stephen Jackson was ejected less than six minutes into the game.
Jackson thought he was fouled and began arguing with referee Eli Roe. Jackson, the Bobcats' scoring leader with 19.2 points per game, got two technicals and was done with 7:31 left in the first quarter.
Charlotte, which never led, got it under 10 with three minutes to go and pulled to 102-101 after Kwame Brown made one of two free throws with 7.1 seconds left.
"We had some great shots, we ran the offense, we executed pretty well," Augustin said. "We just didn't hit them when we needed them." He missed a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Wallace, who scored 19 points, slashed to the hoop with 11.5 second left, but as he cut between Ilyasova and Salmons, Wallace was fouled and tumbled to the ground. He left the court with help and Brown went to the line.
Jennings was fouled on the next possession and made the two free throws for the final margin.
Wallace has a hyper-extended left elbow. The X-rays were negative, but he will be re-evaluated when the team gets back to Charlotte.
Dominic McGuire had a season-high 13 points and 16 rebounds for Charlotte and Shaun Livingston had a season-high 16 points.
Sanders, the Bucks' top pick and 15th overall in the 2010 NBA Draft, made his first career start filling in for Bogut.
NOTES: Bucks F Carlos Delfino missed his ninth consecutive game due to a neck sprain and concussion-like symptoms. An evaluation showed him to be about 90 percent free of the injury, but the team plans to slowly bring him along, beginning with riding a bike to see how he responds. He will not travel to the upcoming games against Utah and Denver. ... Gooden and Maggette received pre-game treatment, but it didn't help them enough to be able to play. ... The Bucks are 12-1 against the Bobcats at the Bradley Center. ... Douglas-Roberts wore protective glasses in his Bucks debut. He suffered a torn right retina during practice just before the regular season started. He was acquired from New Jersey for a second-round pick in the 2012 NBA Draft.
Updated November 27, 2010