MILWAUKEE — Rookie Brandon Jennings scored 22 points,
lifting the slumping Milwaukee Bucks to a 117-95 victory over the Toronto
Raptors on Wednesday night.
Milwaukee, losers of eight of 10, snapped a four-game
skid by controlling this game from the start. The Bucks scored over 100 points
for just the second time in the 10-game stretch to end Toronto's three-game
winning streak.
Milwaukee's only real scare came when the 20-year-old
Jennings crumpled to the floor in the closing seconds of the third quarter after
he hurt his left knee in a collision driving to the basket.
Chris Bosh had 26 points and 10 rebounds for Toronto to
extend his strong string of performances, but he had little help because Andrea
Bargnani (sore right ankle) and Jose Calderon (hip) were out and Hedo Turkoglu
was ineffective.
Ersan Ilyasova and Roko Ukic had 17 points each, Luc
Richard Mbah a Moute had 16, Luke Ridnour 15, Carlos Delfino 14 and Andrew Bogut
12 for the Bucks.
The Raptors had another miserable defensive effort.
Milwaukee shot 52.5 percent from the field and 9-of-21
from beyond the arc. Toronto, which came in allowing 108.3 points per game, fell
to 0-7 when allowing opponents to shoot 50 percent or better.
The Bucks finished a stretch of 15 games in 26 days
without consecutive days off and controlled this one from the start, extending
the lead to 20 early in the second half before the Raptors made it 81-69 heading
into the fourth.
Jennings benefited the most from Toronto's lack of focus
on defense. After shooting 32.5 percent in his previous nine games, he went 8-of-14 from the field and added six assists.
He was sharp from the start, too, hitting five straight
in one stretch and finishing with 14 points in the first quarter to give
Milwaukee a seven-point lead that grew to 57-45 at halftime.
Jennings sat out half the fourth quarter while the
training staff checked his knee, and the staff worked on him again about four
minutes later after he exited for good.
Notes
Forbes ranked the Bucks as the NBA's least
valuable franchise at $254 million. According to Forbes, it's $113 million less
than the league average and $353 million less than the top-ranked Lakers.
Toronto ranked 11th at $386 million. … Bargnani didn't play for the first time
this season. … Ridnour partially dislocated his left elbow in the second half
of Tuesday's loss at Boston and was wearing a bulky brace. … Bucks G Michael
Redd (left knee) missed his seventh straight game.