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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Once Sam Cassell got the ball as time was
running short, he knew exactly what to do -- get it up the floor,
pull up and shoot.
That's exactly what he did, and it paid off as the Milwaukee
Bucks earned their most impressive victory of the season.
Cassell scored five of his 25 points in the final 3.7 seconds
Tuesday night to lift the Bucks to a 109-105 victory over the Los
Angeles Lakers for their seventh victory in nine games since a 3-9
start.
Cassell's 15-foot jumper gave the Bucks a 106-105 lead, and
after a turnover by the Lakers, forced by Ray Allen, he made three
foul shots to complete the scoring.
"I've been playing for (Bucks coach) George Karl for three
years, and I know that in that situation, when we get a rebound and
one of his skill ballplayers like Ray or me has the ball, he wants
you to take that ball," Cassell said. "He doesn't want you to go
coast-to-coast."
So Cassell pulled up and hit the jumper.
"I just felt it; I just had the momentum," he said. "I knew
it was going in when it left my hand."
It was just Milwaukee's second victory over a team with a winning
record, and it came against the defending NBA champions, who had
beaten the Bucks in each of the previous nine games between the
teams.
"We caught them vulnerable tonight," Cassell said of the
Lakers, who lost for the third time in four games -- all to teams
with losing records. "They haven't been playing very well."
After Cassell's shot, the Bucks got the ball back when Ron
Harper's inbound pass deflected off Allen and hit Kobe Bryant
before going out of bounds.
And that proved to be the game.
"We wanted to try to deny Kobe a catch," Karl said. "He has such length, he can get up a 3 without getting
open. He can just shoot over the top. I thought Ray made a great
play, he angled up and deflected the ball and fortunately got
Kobe's hand on the way back."
The Lakers had scored six consecutive points to go ahead 105-104 -- the final four by Shaquille O'Neal. Then Cassell took over.
"Every team is going to bring their 'A' game, and we just have
to step it up," O'Neal said. "We're losing to teams we should
never lose to. We've lost a lot of games that we shouldn't have
lost, and this was one of them. We had them on the ropes, but they
got hot in the third quarter. We turned the ball over a few times,
and just played awful defense."
Bryant, who made only eight of 31 shots and scored 25 points, missed
a driving attempt before the Bucks took possession, setting up
Cassell's go-ahead shot.
Allen led the Bucks with 35 points, and Glenn Robinson added 26
points and 13 rebounds.
O'Neal led the Lakers with 26 points, 17 rebounds and six
assists. Rookie Mike Penberthy scored a career-high 16 points,
making all seven of his shots, including two 3-pointers.
"Right now, we have to be one of the most stubborn defending
championship teams I've ever seen," said Lakers forward Rick Fox,
who had 11 points and seven assists. "The problem is glaring, and
my 6-year-old son can tell me what the problem is right now -- we're
not defending anybody. We won a championship last year
defensively."
Lindsey Hunter made back-to-back 3-pointers to cap a 13-0 run
and give the Bucks an 89-83 lead with 9:12 remaining. The Lakers
responded by going on a 13-3 run in the next three minutes to move
ahead 96-92 before a pair of jumpers by Robinson made it 96-all.
The Lakers scored nine consecutive points late in the third quarter for an 83-76 lead -- largest of the game for either team. The Bucks
followed with their 13-0 spurt.
The Lakers led 26-25 after one quarter, despite the fact that
Bryant was just 2-for-10 from the floor and O'Neal 1-for-5, and 53-48
at halftime.
Game notes
The Lakers also had an eight-game winning streak at home
against the Bucks stopped. ... The Lakers have a 4-1 record against
Eastern Conference teams, while the Bucks are just 1-5 against
Western Conference foes. ... The Lakers, who lead the NBA in
scoring, reached triple figures for the 12th time in their last 17
games. ... Lakers guard Derek Fisher, who underwent surgery for a
stress fracture of his right foot nearly three months ago, had a
bone scan on his foot Tuesday, and was ecstatic with the results.
"It's definitely healing faster than people expected," he said.
Fisher, cleared to begin running in water and doing various other
exercises, believes he'll be able to return to action by
mid-February, a month earlier than originally expected. ... The
Bucks made 10 of 17 shots from 3-point range while the Lakers were 10 of 22.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Milwaukee Clubhouse
LA Lakers Clubhouse
RECAPS
Toronto 104
Indiana 90
Cleveland 92
Dallas 87
New Jersey 116
Minnesota 94
Atlanta 107
Sacramento 99
Miami 96
Denver 85
Seattle 97
Orlando 92
Portland 101
Golden State 93
Milwaukee 109
LA Lakers 105
 FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT
Kobe Bryant Official Site
Rick Fox Official Site
Mark Madsen Official Site
George Karl Official Site
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