Final

Series (Game 2 of 2)

Series starts 2/10

Game 1: Tuesday, February 10th
Kings124Final
Bucks117
Game 2: Tuesday, March 23rd
Bucks112Final
Kings101

Bucks 112

(35-35, 11-24 away)

Kings 101

(51-20, 31-6 home)

7:00 PM ET, March 23, 2004

Sleep Train Arena, Sacramento, CA

1 2 3 4 T
MIL 32 21 27 32112
SAC 26 24 29 22101

Top Performers

Milwaukee: K. Van Horn 22 Pts, 11 Reb, 3 Ast

Sacramento: M. Bibby 27 Pts, 1 Reb, 5 Ast, 1 Stl

Kings' 29-game home win streak vs. East ends

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- It took more than two years for an Eastern Conference team to win at Arco Arena.

The Milwaukee Bucks accomplished that feat Tuesday night, getting 26 points from Michael Redd and 22 points and 11 rebounds from Keith Van Horn in a 112-101 victory over the Sacramento Kings.

The loss snapped Sacramento's 29-game home winning streak against Eastern Conference teams, dating back to a 97-86 loss to Indiana on March 3, 2002.

No one had to remind Bucks rookie head coach Terry Porter about the Kings' dominance. He was an assistant coach last season in Sacramento.

"Some of our coaches were talking about it before the game, they had dominated Eastern Conference teams in this building," Porter said. "As well as they play in this building, this is big for our confidence. This is a good sign for us."

Milwaukee, which had lost five straight and eight of nine, handed the Kings their 20th loss of the season and knocked them a half-game behind Indiana for the league's best record.

"We've got to win our home games, we've got to keep winning," Kings coach Rick Adelman said. "They just had their way with us at the offensive end."

Unlike the teams' previous meeting, a wild offensive slugfest won by Sacramento 124-117, this time the Bucks managed to frustrate the Kings, who shot 44 percent and had only six fast-break points.

Milwaukee, which shot 51 percent and outrebounded the Kings 44-36, raced out to a 15-3 lead and never trailed. The best Sacramento could do was tie the game at 50-50 before Damon Jones made a 3-pointer in the closing seconds to give Milwaukee a 53-50 halftime lead.

"I was on the other side last year and I saw how frustrated teams were every night when they left this building," said Jones, a reserve last year for the Kings. "Against them, you need to control the tempo, control the clock. We were able to do that, especially when they were making runs at us."

Joe Smith had 20 points and nine rebounds for the Bucks, who scored eight straight points to take a 98-88 lead with 6:14 remaining.

Desmond Mason scored 16 points and Jones added 11 points and six assists.

"We played out of our minds tonight," Redd said. "We played really well. But we've been playing pretty solid basketball for a little bit now. And we were due for a big win. Tonight we got it."

Mike Bibby scored 27 points and Peja Stojakovic scored 21 points for the Kings, who play the Lakers on Wednesday night in Los Angeles.

Chris Webber added 17 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, while Brad Miller had 14 points and eight rebounds for Sacramento, which had overcome 17-point deficits in winning its previous two games.

"That's something we have to work on and get better at, we can't be down 10 (points) all the time and expect to come back," Miller said. "Lately we have been digging a lot of holes and then we just have to fight, fight to get back."< ^Notes@: Milwaukee shot 71 percent (15-of-21) to take a 32-26 first-quarter lead. ... Kings guard Bobby Jackson, last season's Sixth Man of the Year, has not played the last 18 games due to an abdominal injury. ... Mason came off the Bucks bench for 11 points in the first half. Stojakovic made 4-of-7 3-point attempts.

Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press

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Team Stat Comparison

 
MIL
SAC
Points 112 101
FGM-FGA 43-84 (.512) 37-84 (.440)
3PM-3PA 2-9 (.222) 9-22 (.409)
FTM-FTA 24-30 (.800) 18-23 (.783)
Rebounds (Offensive-Total) 13-44 9-36
Assists 18 25
Turnovers 12 13
Steals 7 5
Blocks 4 3
Fast Break Points 6 3
Fouls (Tech/Flagrant) 20 (0/0) 21 (2/0)

Top Performers

Milwaukee
Sacramento
Keith Van Horn Van Horn
Points: 22
Reb: 11
Ast: 3
Stl: 0
Blk: 0
Mike Bibby Bibby
Points: 27
Reb: 1
Ast: 5
Stl: 1
Blk: 0