You would have thought George Karl would have been delighted, or at the very least, content.

After all, the Milwaukee Bucks coach saw his team defeat the Miami Heat 86-82 Thursday night at the Bradley Center. The victory improved the Bucks' record to 4-0, making them just one of three teams in the NBA that are still undefeated and giving them their best start since the 1971 team won its first seven

But Karl was far from pleased after his team's shoddy performance, one that was littered with defensive lapses and countless careless decisions.

"I felt we were very fortunate to win tonight,'' said Karl, who was grim-faced throughout his short post-game press conference. "Our guards' leadership to-night was awful, and our time management was awful.''

In short, the Bucks' triumph wasn't artistic. And it probably could have been, especially against a team that was noticeably undermanned. Miami's best player, center Alonzo Mourning, didn't even make the trip to Milwaukee because of food poisoning. Another Heat starter, small forward Kendall Gill, also didn't put on a uniform because of a fractured finger.