"They're better than we are right now," Hornets coach Paul Silas was saying earlier this week about the Milwaukee Bucks.

He may not have known just how much better. Not until Friday night, at any rate.

Turning up the flame on their potent offense, even in the absence of injured All-Star guard Ray Allen, the Bucks breezed through the Charlotte Coliseum Friday night and made short work of the Hornets in a 105-89 victory.

Complicating matters for the Hornets was first the injury-hampered play and later the loss of starting point guard Baron Davis, who was bothered all night by a bruised right knee and is listed as doubtful for Charlotte's game tonight at Washington.

"We just really didn't play very well," Silas said.

"There is no Plan B (if Davis is out). I mean, we do the best we can. But if we lose him, we lose (Jamal Mashburn), we don't have George Lynch, we're not a very good team. It's that simple. I mean, I have no magical wand that I can wave and make things happen if I don't have my players.

"That's just where we are right now. I don't use that as an excuse, but you take anybody's point guard and leading scorer off their team and it's going to affect them."

Davis injured the knee early in Wednesday's home-court victory over Washington. Mashburn, the starting small forward, has been out since early season with a lower abdominal strain and there is no timetable for his return. Lynch, a former Philadelphia starter who was traded to Charlotte in October, hasn't played for the Hornets after having foot surgery but is due back in late January.

Davis went 24 minutes Friday but banged his knee again and, already seeing him having trouble getting into his game, Silas decided to rest him the rest of the way. Davis had eight assists but made only 2-of-11 shots and scored seven, 13 below his average.

The scoring load was shared by Lee Nailon (24 points), David Wesley (21) and Elden Campbell (16). But overall the Hornets shot only 38.5percent and played with double-figure deficits all the way after Milwaukee took control early in the second quarter. They were outrebounded 48-47, with former Hornet Anthony Mason getting 11 to lead the Bucks.

The biggest problem, though, was on the defensive end. Despite missing Allen and his 21.4 average, the Bucks riddled Charlotte with a 47.2percent shooting display that included an 11-of-26 effort from three-point range. Five players reached double figures, topped by Sam Cassell (29) and Glenn Robinson (21).

Milwaukee's bench easily outscored Charlotte's 36-15.

The Bucks' offense, which created a 23-point lead in the second quarter, was hardly a surprise. They're averaging 106 points in four games without Allen.

"I thought in the first half we played with as much energy as we've shown all year," Milwaukee coach George Karl said. "Then we were able to hang on in the fourth quarter (when Charlotte cut the lead to 10) and made enough threes to win it."

The result left the Hornets frustrated, particularly so because of their inability to develop any momentum at home.

"The only consistency we have is win one, lose one," Wesley said.

They are 4-8 at home and facing, after tonight's stop in Washington, nine of their next 13 games in the Coliseum.