Bucks Become First Playoff Road Winner

Michael Redd was relieved the Milwaukee Bucks had just enough to hold off Detroit’s frantic rally.

Redd scored a career playoff-high 26 points, and the Bucks held on to beat the Pistons, 92-88, Wednesday in Game 2, evening their best-of-seven series and becoming the first visiting team to win in the playoffs.

Milwaukee led, 87-72, with 3:13 left, but needed a costly miscue by Detroit and Redd’s two made free throws to escape with the win.

“It probably would’ve destroyed us if we lost, because of the way we played,” Redd said. “It would’ve been a travesty.”

After Milwaukee’s Damon Jones missed two free throws with 9.5 seconds left, with a two-point lead, the Pistons had a chance to tie or go ahead.

Rasheed Wallace took a pass in the corner, mishandled the ball and lost it out of bounds with 4.1 seconds left.

“I ain’t making no excuses,” Wallace said. “It just slipped out of my hands.”

Redd then made two free throws to secure the victory against a team many picked to advance to the NBA Finals.

“I’m not buying into the fact that we’re going to lay down and give this series away,” Redd said. “We definitely want to win it. We’re a tough team.”

Chauncey Billups led Detroit with 20 points before fouling out. Richard Hamilton had 18 points before fouling out and being ejected with a second technical foul with 4:58 left.

Piston Coach Larry Brown hated the way his team played.

“We took 25 threes and played like strangers,” Brown said. “Our guards forgot we have big people.”

Milwaukee struggled with turnovers again -- 20 of them led to 21 points for Detroit -- but overcame them by outrebounding the Pistons by 11 and holding them to 40.2% shooting.

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Minnesota 95, Denver 81 -- Latrell Sprewell scored 31 points, Kevin Garnett had his third career playoff triple-double with 20 points, 22 rebounds and 10 assists, and the Timberwolves took a 2-0 lead in their series at Minneapolis.

Sprewell made seven three-point shots. He missed only one.

Voshon Lenard led the Nuggets with 24 points, but only nine came in the final three quarters. Rookie of the year runner-up Carmelo Anthony continued his quiet postseason with 15 points, nine rebounds and five-for-11 shooting.

The Timberwolves are halfway to winning their first playoff series.

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Miami 93, New Orleans 63 -- The Heat didn’t need another last-second hero, not the way the Hornets missed shots.

New Orleans shot 24.4% to tie for the second-lowest playoff point total since the shot clock was introduced in 1954, and the Heat took a 2-0 lead in their series.

The Hornets made 20 of 82 shots. They made seven meaningless baskets in the fourth quarter to avoid breaking the record for playoff shooting futility -- 23.3%, set by Golden State in 1973.

Utah holds the playoff record for fewest points with 54 in 1998.

Dwyane Wade’s basket with 1.3 seconds left won Game 1, but the Heat wrapped up Game 2 early, taking a 23-point lead in the third quarter. Caron Butler led Miami with 18 points and nine rebounds.

New Orleans’ offensive meltdown was a collective effort, though All-Star guard Baron Davis was three for 14.

Davis was the only Hornet in double figures, with 13 points, but missed all six of his three-point attempts.