Milwaukee Bucks (28-28) at Indiana Pacers (19-38), 7 p.m.
Sports Network | February 25, 2010
(Sports Network) - The Milwaukee Bucks will put a pair of win streaks to the test tonight against the Central Division-rival Indiana Pacers in the opener of a three-game road trip at Conseco Fieldhouse.
Milwaukee has won four in a row overall and its last four road games. It will also visit Miami and Atlanta on the swing and owns a 10-19 record as the guest this season. The Bucks are riding their first four-game road winning streak since the 2005 season and sport a 5-1 road mark this month.
The winning ways continued for Milwaukee with Wednesday's 115-95 victory versus the New Orleans Hornets, as Andrew Bogut scored 26 points and pulled down 13 rebounds to help his team snap an eight-game skid to the Hornets. The Bucks are 11-1 when Bogut scores at least 20 points with 10 or more rebounds.
"The bench did a great job of keeping that lead out to double digits and we finished the game off well," Bogut said. "Shots were just falling for me. I got some offensive rebounds again, and when I start out games trying to hit the offensive boards and trying to get some easy baskets, it definitely helps the confidence and it happened again tonight."
Bucks newcomer John Salmons had 18 points, while veteran Jerry Stackhouse chipped in 13 points off the bench for the Bucks, who won for the 10th time in the last 13 contests.
Indiana will begin a short homestand Thursday versus the Bucks and Bulls, and is 12-15 as the host in 2009-10. It has dropped two straight and six of the last seven games, including last night's 120-110 setback at Chicago in the finale of a four-game road trip.
Brandon Rush ended with 21 points and seven rebounds, Danny Granger totaled 20 points and seven boards, and Luther Head added 15 points for the Pacers, who went 1-3 on the trek. Including a 37-18 deficit to Chicago, the Pacers have been outscored 127-84 in the first quarter in each of the last four games.
"Dug a huge hole in the first quarter, down 23, hard to do that on the road and then come back and get a win," Pacers coach Jim O'Brien said. "Came back in the second quarter but we didn't have what it took in the second half."
Forward Mike Dunleavy missed the game because of food poisoning and is questionable for tonight.
Milwaukee has won the first two meetings with Indiana this season, but has lost 10 of 12 trips to Conseco Fieldhouse. The Bucks, however, posted an 84-81 win in Indy back on December 21 to snap a nine-game series road skid.
