Milwaukee ? Michael Redd made up for a subpar game in a big way.
Redd scored 20 of his season-high 39 points in the first quarter and the Milwaukee Bucks held on to beat the Chicago Bulls 99-92 on Sunday night.
Redd, who made eight of his first 11 shots, was 15-of-27 from the floor as Milwaukee snapped its five-game losing streak.
“We wanted to go to him and get him going early in the game,” Milwaukee coach Terry Porter said. “His shot was rolling early and that’s obviously good for us.”
Redd had just four points and was 2-of-10 from the floor in a nine-point loss against Portland on Wednesday.
“I always try and look forward to the next game, but I was really determined to come back and have a good game,” said Redd, who made all eight free throws and had eight rebounds.
“I was more aggressive than I have been all season,” he said. “I was focused. I didn’t have one of my better performances the other night against Portland.”
Joe Smith added a season-high 21 points to go with nine rebounds for the Bucks, who beat Chicago for the 13th straight time in Milwaukee.
Ben Gordon had 19 points for Chicago, which had its five-game winning streak halted.
“(Redd) was in a zone and there wasn’t much we could do,” Gordon said. “He was full of confidence.”
The Bulls, who trailed by 18 in the second quarter, got 18 points and six assists from Kirk Hinrich.
“We didn’t have the defensive intensity that we have had to start the game,” Chicago coach Scott Skiles said. “We had a hard time stopping Michael Redd.”
Milwaukee led 91-90 when Smith banked in a basket to increase the lead to three with 51 seconds left. After Gordon missed a short shot, Redd sank a baseline jumper and was fouled by Gordon. Redd’s free throw gave Milwaukee a 96-90 lead with 23 seconds left.
“I wanted the ball in my hands,” Redd said. “I knew I was going to get something done.”
Hinrich made a shot to cut the deficit to 96-92, but that’s as close as Chicago got.
Chicago trailed by nine at halftime but managed to tie it at 80 on a 3-pointer by Gordon from the corner with 8:26 left.
Baskets by Redd and Desmond Mason gave Milwaukee a 91-86 lead with 3:06 remaining. Gordon answered with a free throw and another 3-pointer to trim the deficit to 91-90 with 1:10 to play.
“We had guys make shots for us down the stretch and we were able to hold our cushion,” Porter said.
Notes: Chicago is 3-9 on the road. … Milwaukee is 5-1 against the Central Division and won for the first time in four games Sunday. The Bucks also won for just the second time in their last eight home games. … Milwaukee scored a season-high 36 points in the first quarter. … Chicago shot 70.6 percent (12-of-17) from the field in the second quarter. … Five hundred family members of the U.S. Marine Corps Fox Company stationed in Iraq received free tickets from the Bucks.
