Mavericks Storm Past the Bucks

The short-handed Milwaukee Bucks were on a roll until Raef LaFrenz rolled over Michael Redd’s left knee.

And that sparked Dallas to a 112-106 overtime victory over the Bucks on Tuesday night for the Mavericks’ first victory at the 14-year-old Bradley Center.

Redd was on his way for a breakaway layup off a steal when LaFrenz fouled him hard and toppled over him with 11 minutes left in regulation.

Redd limped to the foul line and sank two shots for an 81-68 lead. But he couldn’t take the pain and left two minutes later.

Dallas Coach Don Nelson put in a zone defense against the Bucks, who already were playing without Sam Cassell (toe) and Ray Allen (knee), and called some plays for Nick Van Exel, who scored 17 points from that point, including the go-ahead basket in overtime.

“I just thought if I don’t get anything out of Nick, we’re not going to win the game,” Nelson said. “So, I called his number and made him do something and he finally became aggressive.”

With their best shooters on the bench and Glenn Robinson shooting only seven for 22, the Bucks had nothing with which to counter.

Orlando 96, Chicago 82--Tracy McGrady had 20 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists at Orlando, Fla., in his first game back for the Magic after suffering back spasms last week.

McGrady, who hadn’t played since being wheeled off the court on a stretcher Friday in a loss to Charlotte, admitted he still felt pain and lacked explosiveness.

“On one play, I tried to dunk the ball with my left hand and I kind of got pinned on the rim,” said McGrady, who made seven of 17 shots.

Jalen Rose scored 20 points, 14 in the third quarter, for the Bulls, who have lost 13 of 15.

Atlanta 103, New Jersey 77--Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Jacque Vaughn each scored 18 points at Atlanta, and the Hawks handed the Nets their worst loss this season.

Abdur-Rahim averaged 32 points in two previous games against New Jersey this season. He didn’t think the Nets would let that happen again, so he focused on getting others involved.

“My mind-set was not to score, score, score,” Abdur-Rahim said. “I wanted to make them pay by finding the open guys.”

Washington 103, Denver 87--Chris Whitney and Richard Hamilton scored 22 points apiece for the Wizards, who played their first home game in two weeks.

Donnell Harvey had 18 points, and former Wizard forward Juwan Howard, booed every time he touched the ball, scored 17 to lead the Nuggets.

Michael Jordan played 20 minutes and scored nine points.

Golden State 115, Minnesota 106--Antawn Jamison scored 25 points at Minneapolis to help the Warriors end a 10-game losing streak.

The Warriors won for only the third time in their last 29 road games. Even with the victory, Golden State has lost 20 of 23.

Utah 109, Houston 105--John Stockton scored 20 points on his 40th birthday and the Jazz won its 11th in a row at home.

Steve Francis led the Rockets with 32 points.

Stockton became the 10th man in league history to play after turning 40.