Post Up: Young Bucks

by Peter Walsh

Bucks 113 (35-36), Lakers 103 (37-36)

Larry Sanders scored a career-high 21 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead the Bucks to a big late season win over the Lakers. The Lakers loss made the race for the eighth seed in the West that much closer; LA now sits just a game and a half ahead of Utah for the final spot. Steve Blake hit a three to give the Lakers an 88-87 lead, but Brandon Jennings came right back and hit a three of his own to give Milwaukee the lead for good. Los Angeles missed 10 of their next eleven shots and the Bucks capitalized with a 17-4 run to put the Lakers away. Jennings scored 20 and dropped 7 dimes, Ersan Ilyasova scored 20 and Monta Ellis finished with 18 points, 9 assists and 7 rebounds. Kobe scored 30 and Dwight Howard finished with 15 points and 15 rebounds in the loss.

Pacers 103 (46-27), Mavs 78 (35-37)

Despite the disheartening news that Danny Granger would miss the rest of the season due to knee surgery, the Pacers came out and handed the Mavs a 25-point L. The game was tied up at 41 apiece at the half and the Mavericks were in the hunt to get their record to .500 so they could finally shave their “.500 beards”. Instead, the Pacers outscored the Mavs 34-17 in the third quarter to take control of the game and run away with the victory. Paul George scored 24 points, grabbed 8 boards and dished out 6 assists and Roy Hibbert went for 16 points and 11 boards. Dirk was the only Mavs starter to score in double figures; he finished with 21.

Kings 117 (27-46), Suns 103 (23-50)

With last night’s win over the Suns, Sacramento has now won six of their last ten and are ending the season on a high note. DeMarcus Cousins took advantage of a depleted Phoenix front line by scoring a season-high 34 points and grabbing 14 boards while Isaiah Thomas had 23 points to go along with 8 assists. Sacramento destroyed Phoenix inside, outscoring the Suns 62-42 in the paint and outrebounding them 50-37. Goran Dragic did not play and rookie Kendall Marshall had 10 assists in the spot start.