The fade continues
Bucks collapse in final minutes
By MICHAEL HUNT
of the Journal Sentinel staff
Last Updated: March 18, 2002
Charlotte - For 45 minutes, the Milwaukee offense was operating at its highest level in weeks. The Bucks were shooting almost 60%, had 107 points with 3 minutes to play and actually resembled the team that inspired fear in its opponents last season.

Bucks-Hornets


Photo/AP
Baron Davis dunks over Ray Allen Monday.


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Standings | Statistics



But because this is this season, there always seems to be a caveat, a condition, an if, an and or a but.

When it mattered most Monday night against Charlotte, the Bucks vanished in a 113-110 loss to the Hornets before an announced crowd of 7,833 at the 24,000-seat Charlotte Coliseum.

After Sam Cassell's three-pointer gave them a 107-102 lead, the Bucks, who had effortlessly knocked down jumpers for most of the evening, missed their next five shots. That created enough of an opening for the Hornets, who had dominated on the offensive boards and from the free-throw line, to win the game with an 11-3 run.

And of the many mistakes the Bucks made down the stretch, their most fatal was leaving David Wesley open for a second time. Wesley, who missed a three-pointer from the side with 1:06 left, simply rotated to the other side of the floor with 28.1 seconds remaining. This time his aim was true, and his three-point dagger sent the Bucks (36-29) reeling with their sixth loss in nine games this month.

"At the end it came down to leaving David Wesley open in the corner," said Bucks guard Ray Allen. "We left him open two times in a row. We were lucky he didn't make the first one. We were kind of at their mercy when we left him that wide open.

"When the ball was in our court we had every chance to win the game, but we didn't. It was almost like a bad-luck game because things didn't happen the way we wanted them to happen."

Good teams make their own luck, and since Feb. 2, the Bucks are 9-12. They allowed the Hornets (33-33), who have applied for relocation to New Orleans, to hang around long enough and win a critical game that kept them at the bottom of the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

"We're putting things together at the right time," Hornets coach Paul Silas said.

No relief in sight
If only the Bucks, who still have Orlando and New Jersey to play on this difficult road trip, could say the same.

In the closing 3 minutes, their offense consisted of: A missed Allen jumper, a missed Anthony Mason layup on which the big man might have been fouled, a missed Cassell jumper, a missed Allen layup and an errant three-pointer by Cassell with 8 seconds left when the Bucks were down by two points.

"I thought Ray had some good looks in that situation," Bucks coach George Karl said. "I thought Mase got fouled in one situation. They knocked him on the floor and (there was) no call. We had a hell of a lot to overcome with our turnovers, offensive rebounds and free throws.

"We overcame that and had a chance to win a big game. I can't complain about my team. They played extremely hard and just didn't make the big shot."

By Karl's calculations, the Hornets scored 75 points on free throws, offensive rebounds and turnovers. The Bucks lost the ball just 12 times, but the Hornets efficiently cashed in to the tune of 24 points. Charlotte took 37 free throws to just 22 for the Bucks, and the Hornets wiped up on the offensive glass, 21-5.

Coming up big
All three starting Charlotte big men had double-doubles: 31 points and 10 rebounds for Jamal Mashburn, 17 points and 12 rebounds for P.J. Brown and 20 points and 10 rebounds for Elden Campbell.

By comparison, the Bucks got almost nothing from their big men. Mason, the former Hornet, had just two rebounds and nine points in 34 minutes. Still, Cassell said he thought it was the responsibility of the Bucks' guards and small forwards to help more in situations where the team is getting obliterated on the boards.

"I think they got too many offensive rebounds," Cassell said. "Our smalls have got to come in and do a better job of scratching for offensive rebounds. I think that was the difference in the game tonight."