Bucks at Bobcats
The Milwaukee Bucks have not enjoyed a winning streak all season and will look to change that in a Monday visit to Charlotte. Milwaukee snapped a five-game losing streak on Saturday, toppling Philadelphia 116-106 at home and giving veteran forward Caron Butler reason for optimism. "Something that I saw in the last two or three games," he told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "is that (we) were developing a good style - a good brand of basketball among the young guys."
Charlotte saw its three-game winning streak broken in a disappointing loss to Utah on Saturday, when Al Jefferson couldn't get a pair of putback attempts to fall in the waning seconds. Jefferson, who is battle some minor ankle trouble, wrote the Bobcats' misfortune off to chance. "Basketball Gods," he told the Charlotte Observer. "It didn't happen. (One) should have gone down."
TV: 7 p.m. ET, SportSouth (Charlotte)
ABOUT THE BUCKS (6-21): Milwaukee is 3-10 away from home overall but has showed signs of improvement on the road of late, winning two of its last four. Khris Middleton, who helped spell John Henson (knee) at power forward, led the Bucks over the 76ers on Saturday with a team-high 27 points. Milwaukee got a lift from the return of Butler, who played for the first time since Dec. 6 due to a sore left knee and finished with 22 points and 11 boards in 39 minutes.
ABOUT THE BOBCATS (13-15): Charlotte owner Michael Jordan had Saturday night's home crowd abuzz - introducing the new Hornets logo that his club will adopt next season in a halftime ceremony - but the fans left disappointed after an 88-85 loss. The Bobcats allowed Utah to shoot 10-of-21 from 3-point range, while Charlotte struck just twice from beyond the arc - a recipe for disaster, according to coach Steve Clifford. "You get outscored by 24 in 3-point shooting, it's going to be hard to win," he said.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Milwaukee's last winning streak came March 17-19 of last season, with consecutive wins at home against Orlando and Portland.
2. Charlotte lost SF Jeff Taylor for the season after he ruptured his Achilles tendon on Friday at Detroit. Taylor was averaging eight points over 24.2 minutes in his second season out of Vanderbilt.
3. The Bobcats are 2-0 against the Bucks this season, with Jefferson averaging 21 points and 9.5 rebounds.