Bucks-76ers Preview

By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO
Posted Nov 11 2012 10:30PM

After a perfect road trip, the Philadelphia 76ers are hoping to carry that momentum back home.

The Milwaukee Bucks, meanwhile, are going for their best start on the road in 11 years.

Philadelphia seeks a fourth straight win overall and its eighth in nine home contests against the Bucks on Monday night in the opener of a five-game homestand.

Coming off two straight losses to New York, the 76ers (4-2) rebounded by sweeping three consecutive road games behind a defense that held opponents to 81.7 points and 40.2 percent shooting.

"I'm thrilled, 3-0 road trip," coach Doug Collins said.

Collins was certainly pleased with his reserves after the four-man bench held a 38-12 scoring edge and 17-10 rebounding advantage in Saturday's 93-83 victory at Toronto. Nick Young scored 16 points off the bench one day after the starters accounted for 82 points in a 106-100 win over Boston.

"Our first unit just didn't have any juice at all," Collins said. "Our second unit was fantastic and that was the difference in the game.

"That's what we're going to have to do, because we have 22 back-to-backs this year."

Philadelphia's depth will continue to be tested with centers Andrew Bynum (knee) and Kwame Brown (calf) and swingman Jason Richardson (ankle) sidelined.

The 76ers may need to withstand all those absences again as they open their first homestand after playing four of their first six games as visitors.

They took two of three from the Bucks (3-2) last season, including a 94-82 victory Jan. 16 to extend their home winning streak in the series to three games.

Philadelphia has won seven of the last eight meetings at Wells Fargo Center, holding Milwaukee to 86.0 points and 25.9 percent from 3-point range.

The Bucks, though, are trying to begin a season 3-0 on the road for the first time since winning the first four games in 2001-02. They're averaging 100.0 points and shooting 48.8 percent from the field in the first two road contests.

Their accuracy wasn't nearly that good in Saturday's 96-92 home loss to Boston, shooting 39.8 percent overall and connecting on only 3 of 19 from beyond the arc.

Milwaukee will need much more from Brandon Jennings after the point guard was held to a season-low four points on 1-of-11 shooting against the Celtics.

Jennings scored seven points on 3 off 11 from the field in his last game at Philadelphia, but did total 52 points and 13 assists in the two subsequent matchups at home.

Leading scorer Monta Ellis has had more success playing on the road against the 76ers, averaging 21.4 points in five games. He leads the Bucks with 21.2 points per game after scoring a season-high 32 Saturday.

Samuel Dalembert is also coming off his best performance of the season, scoring 14 points and pulling down eight boards. He totaled eight points over the previous four games.

The center had 13 points and 19 boards in a win with Sacramento in only appearance as a visitor in Philadelphia on March 27, 2011. He spent his first eight seasons with the 76ers before being dealt to the Kings following the 2009-10 season.

Jennings scores 33 as Bucks beat 76ers 105-96

By DAN GELSTON
Posted Nov 12 2012 10:46PM

PHILADELPHIA (AP) Brandon Jennings bobbled the ball once, twice, then let it fly.

His shaky ballhandling was erased by the steady aim of his 3-point shot. Jennings hit the go-ahead 3 late in the fourth quarter and finished with 33 points, eight assists, and four steals to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a 105-96 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday night.

"It was actually a big shot for us because they had the momentum," Jennings said. "It just gave us back the momentum."

Monta Ellis scored 18 points and had seven assists, and Mike Dunleavy had 13 to help the Bucks improve to 3-0 on the road for the first time since they won their first four in 2001-02. Jennings and Ellis combined to make 20 of 41 shots with 10 rebounds and 15 assists. Mike Dunleavy scored 13 points and the Bucks shot around 60 percent most of the game.

After Jennings' 3 put the Bucks up 92-89, Dunleavy buried a 3 with 2:44 left to stretch Milwaukee's lead to 10. Led by Dorell Wright, the Sixers sizzled from 3-point range until the end, but they simply didn't have long-range makes left in them to make this one a game.

They also couldn't stop Jennings' drives to the basket off the pick and roll. He also hit four 3-pointers and was 5 of 5 from the free-throw line.

Jennings made a nice recovery on the winning 3 after nearly losing the ball and adding to Milwaukee's total of 23 turnovers.

"He kept his poise there and put it in," coach Scott Skiles said.

Jrue Holiday had 25 points and a whopping eight turnovers for the Sixers. Jason Richardson scored 20 points and Wright had 14. The Sixers made 10 of 24 3-pointers.

The Sixers were rolling coming off their first 3-0 road trip since 2003. But they received a dose of bad news earlier in the day when they learned center Andrew Bynum will miss at least five more weeks because of a bone bruise in his right knee and may not play in a game until early January. The Sixers said the new goal was for Bynum to resume "normal basketball activity" around Dec. 10. He would then need 1-4 weeks of conditioning and practice before he can play in his first game for the 76ers. He has yet to even practice with them this season.

Holiday was rewarded with a $41 million, four-year contract at the start of the season and might be feeling a dose of pressure trying to run the offense without his big man. He had his fourth straight game of at least seven turnovers, a big no-no if he wants to become an elite point guard.

"I think I'm trying to make something happen," Holiday said. "Sometimes you just have to be patient. I'm learning, I'm watching film every day and trying to learn from my mistakes."

For all the hype surrounding Bynum, he was far from the only big piece acquired in the offseason. Richardson, picked up in the same four-team deal that landed Bynum, Young and Wright all were expected to bolster a team fresh off a surprising run to the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Trailing by as many as 14 points in the first half, Richardson, Young and Wright got to work to rally Philadelphia in the third. The Sixers went on a 16-3 run to pull within three. Young and Richardson hit consecutive 3s to make it a two-point game and Holiday sank a pull-up jumper to close the quarter and tie the game at 83.

Richardson missed the last four games with a sprained left ankle. No rust here. Richardson scored 10 points in the first, including a highlight-reel worth 360 dunk off a fastbreak to send the crowd into a frenzy. His scoring boost wasn't enough early.

"I think we hadn't focused like we had the past three games," Richardson said. "I think we kind of felt like it was going to be an easy win, like they were going to lie down."

Nope. Keyed by six straight points from Jennings, the Bucks snapped a tie game with a 14-0 run in the second quarter. The Bucks were only shooting 45 percent from the floor over the first five games, but blew that number away in the first half, shooting 64 percent (23 of 36) to lead 62-50 at the break.

Jennings' 19 points by halftime were well above his season average of 13.8 a game.

"In the first half, he was just spreading the ball around nicely and getting the guys involved," Skiles said. "When it came time for him to score some points, he did that as well."

NOTES: Jennings leads the NBA with 3.4 steals a game. He's had seven straight multiple-steal games. ... The Sixers play seven of their next eight games at home. ... The Sixers scored only 13 points in the fourth quarter. ... The Bucks went 16 of 18 from the FT line while the Sixers were 12 of 16. ... The Bucks outscored the Sixers 42-24 in the paint. ... Larry Sanders had nine rebounds to give the Bucks a 48-31 edge on the boards.

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Follow Dan Gelston on Twitter: http://twitter.com/APgelston

Notebook: Bucks 105, Sixers 96

Andy Jasner, For NBA.com
Posted Mon Nov 12, 2012 10:28 PM - Updated Tue Nov 13, 2012 9:58 AM

THE FACTS: Brandon Jennings led the Milwaukee Bucks with 33 points in their 105-96 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers Monday night at the Wells Fargo Center. Monta Ellis scored 18 points, Mike Dunleavy had 13 and Tobias Harris 10. The Bucks improved to 3-0 on the road, their best start since winning the first four away games during the 2001-02 season.

Jrue Holiday paced the Sixers with 25 points while Jason Richardson returned from an ankle injury to contribute 20 points. Dorell Wright added 14 points and Thaddeus Young 11 for Philadelphia, which fell to 4-3.

QUOTABLE: "Our pick-and-roll defense in the fourth quarter was awesome, the best I've ever seen."

-- Jennings

THE STAT: The Bucks outscored Philadelphia 42-24 in points in the paint. Entering this game, the Sixers had been allowing the fewest points in the paint in the league.

TURNING POINT: After the Sixers got within 94-93, the Bucks responded with a gutsy 9-0 run capped by Dunleavy's 3-pointer for a 103-93 lead with 2:45 left.

HOT: Jennings knocked down 12 of his 21 shots and all five of his free throws. Several of his baskets came with the shot clock winding down and defenders draped all over him.

NOT: Spencer Hawes missed eight of his 11 shots for the Sixers. He never seemed comfortable.

QUOTABLE II: "It wasn't heavy legs. It was heavy minds."

-- Sixers coach Doug Collins on the loss.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Jennings was stellar in every aspect with 33 points, eight assists, five rebounds, four steals and two blocked shots.

INSIDE THE ARENA: The crowd was rather quiet for much of the game until the Sixers made a late run early in the fourth quarter. When the Bucks quickly countered and pulled away, the fans began filing out with a few minutes remaining.

QUOTABLE III: "We played hard, got some deflections, some steals and were able to pull away in the end."

-- Bucks coach Scott Skiles

GOOD MOVE: The Bucks kept running their offense through Jennings. The ever-improving point guard made some huge plays down the stretch when the Bucks needed a boost from the hard-charging Sixers.

BAD MOVE: The Sixers could have attacked the rim a little bit more, even though they fell behind by 16. They were sizzling for a while from beyond the arc, but cooled off. The Sixers were 12-for-16 from the free-throw line. The Sixers are averaging 18 free-throw attempts this season after nearly setting an NBA record last season for the fewest free-throw attempts in a season.

ROOKIE WATCH: Bucks guard Doron Lamb didn't play. The Sixers also chose to rest guard Maalik Wayns and forward Arnett Moultrie.

NOTABLE: After missing the last four games with a sprained left ankle, Richardson was inserted back into the 76ers' starting lineup. ... The Bucks shot 63.9 percent (23-for-36) from the field in the first half. ... Milwaukee is 3-0 on the road after going just 14-19 on the road last season. ... The Bucks shot 51.3 percent from the field. Philadelphia has lost 16 straight games when the opposition has shot 50 percent or better, dating to the 2010-11 season. ... Holiday had his third 20-plus point game of the season, but also had eight turnovers -- his fourth consecutive game with at least seven turnovers... Wright knocked down at least four 3-pointers for the second straight game. ... The Bucks outrebounded the Sixers 48-31.

NEXT: For the Bucks, Wednesday vs. Indiana, Saturday vs. New Orleans, Monday @ Charlotte. For the Sixers, Wednesday vs. Detroit, Friday vs. Utah, Sunday vs. Cleveland.

• Bucks: Gooden, Mbah a Moute
• 76ers: Bynum

• Bucks: --
• 76ers: --

• Lead Changes: 5
• Times Tied: 7

• Arena: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA
• Officials: #38 Michael Smith, #16 David Guthrie, #75 Eric Dalen
• Attendance: 15086
• Duration: 2:03