NBA: 76ers keep Bucks struggling

March 28, 2013 9:18am


The Philadelphia 76ers used a 24-14 fourth quarter to turn the tables on the visiting Milwaukee Bucks, carving out a 100-92 victory, Wednesday (Thursday, PHL time) at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

The 76ers improved to 28-43, while dealing the Bucks a fourth straight loss to put them at 34-36, though they still have control of the eighth seed in the East.

The home team led by as much as 12, 64-52, three minutes into the third quarter, but nine straight from Milwaukee made it a single-possession difference, 64-61.

Consecutive lay-ups by Monta Ellis and Ersan Ilyasova put Milwaukee ahead, 73-71, 2:28 left in the third, and then five straight by Ellis began the fourth, for an 83-76 lead.

In response though, Philadelphia's defense stepped up to hold their foes scoreless over a nearly four-minute span, while on the other end, the 76ers punched in 15 straight. That made it 98-87 in favor of Philly with 5:09 left, and the Bucks couldn't score enough despite it being their foes' turn to go cold from the field, to overhaul that last deficit.

Spencer Hawes continued his stellar late-season run, with 15 points, 17 rebounds and four assists, versus no turnovers. He was one of six 76ers in double figures, led by the backcourt of Jrue Holiday and Damien Wilkins, who each poured in 18 markers.

Milwaukee was led by a game-high 29 points by Monta Ellis on 12-of-21 shooting. Larry Sanders scored 15 along with nine boards, while Ersan Ilyasova nabbed a double-double of 13 points and 18 rebounds.
Surprisingly, Brandon Jennings went scoreless, 0-for-3, and played under 20 minutes after getting pulled from the game early in the third quarter. - AMD, GMA News