MILWAUKEE, March 5 (AP) -- Charlie Villanueva scored 32 points, his highest output in nearly two years, and had 11 rebounds as the Milwaukee Bucks scored a season-high 118 points to beat the Seattle SuperSonics 118-106 Wednesday night.
It was only the second 30-point game of Villanueva's career; the other was for 48 points as a Toronto Raptors rookie at Milwaukee on March 26, 2006.
Andrew Bogut added 21 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists for Milwaukee, which was playing without guard Mo Williams and forward Yi Jianlian, out with minor injuries.
Kevin Durant had 23 points for Seattle, which lost for the sixth time in seven games and dropped to 6-24 on the road.
Villaneuva, a reserve until replacing Yi in the starting lineup in early February, also tied his season highs in assists (three) and blocked shots (two).
The Bucks got another scare late in the third quarter when Durant, coming off a screen left of the lane, accidentally head-butted Michael Redd, lacerating Redd's nose. Redd left the court and went to the locker room holding a towel near his right eye. He did not return.
Bucks forward Charlie Villanueva surpassed 30 points for the second time in his career tonight and the first time since March 26, 2006. Villanueva notched a career-best 48 points that night at the Bradley Center, during his rookie season with the Toronto Raptors.
It was a big night all around for Mr. Villanueva. He matched his season high in scoring in by halftime tonight, scoring 21 in the first two quarters. His previous high this season was 21 (2/9/2008 vs. New York). Charlie V. scored 15 points of those points in the 1st quarter on 6-7 shooting (86%) and a perfect 3-3 from three-point land. Villanueva also finished a perfect 5-5 from the charity stripe.
The Bucks set new season highs for points (118) and assists (36), surpassing marks of 115 points (vs. Denver, 2/23/2008) and 32 assists (at Chicago, 12/28/2007).
Milwaukee’s 39-point 1st quarter tally beat a season high for that quarter (37), and matches the team’s high-water mark for any quarter this season (39 – 4th quarter at Denver, 12/26/2007). The Bucks’ 69 points in the first half is also a new season high, bettering by their previous mark by a single point (68 – 1/12/2008 at Phoenix).
Three players snagged double-doubles in tonight’s contest: Sonics center Johan Petro (11 points, 15 rebounds), Villanueva (32 points, 11 rebounds), and Bucks center Andrew Bogut (21 points, 13 rebounds). Bogut’s double dip was his team-leading 28th.
Trailing 11-14 in the 1st quarter, the Bucks outscored the Sonics 28-9 the rest of the frame – including a 23-4 stretch – to take a 39-24 lead into the 2nd.
The Bucks won tonight largely on the strength of that opening quarter. Seattle matched Milwaukee point for point in the 2nd (30-30) and 3rd (29-29) quarters, before outscoring the Bucks by 3 (23-20) in the 4th period.
Late scare: The Sonics’ 4th quarter supremacy was aided by a 19-9 run to open the final frame. The Bucks then outscored the Sonics 11-4, including a 7-0 run, to close out the contest.
With an Awvee Storey lay-up, the Bucks broke the 100-point barrier with 10:31 still to go in the 4th period.
The Bucks tonight improved to 17-12 at the Bradley Center this season, including 3-1 at the BC since the All-Star break. The Bucks improved to an even 4-4 overall since the break and snapped a three-game losing skid.
Bucks guard Michael Redd left the game in the 3rd quarter with a nose laceration. He did not return.
The Bucks avoided falling into a dead heap in their all-time series against the Supersonics. Milwaukee now leads Seattle 61-59 all-time and has won the teams’ last four meetings at the Bradley Center.
Click "play" on the video player to the right to watch highlights from Wednesday's win over Seattle. Or use the links below to watch and listen to archived video and audio.
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Game highlights
Larry Krystkowiak
(On the season high in assists tonight…)
“It was a season high in assists. I think our previous total was 32 and we had 36 tonight, with 22 of them at halftime. We talked about it at shoot-around and before the game that we had 12 assists in our previous game and that’s not a fun way to play basketball. What often happens is a guy gives it up and a couple passes later they end up getting it back. Charlie (Villanueva) had a real hot had, particularly in the first half. The rim got bigger because guys were shooting open shots rather than forced shots.”
(On holding off a late run by the SuperSonics…)
“We just had a hard time scoring. We were without Mike (Redd) and Mo (Williams). We had some nice looks inside and we didn’t get them to fall and we missed some free throws. (Seattle) just climbed back into it. We had a timeout with four minutes to go and we talked about capturing it back. We managed to score a couple of buckets and get some stops and at the end of the day that’s kind of the bottom line to put an end to it.”
(On Charlie Bell’s lay-up to close out the game...)
“That particular play has a few options. We wanted to get the ball into the post, first and foremost. It was a nice read. The key was attacking. I thought we had settled for some jumpers when they were chipping away at the lead. We kind of got complacent and we talked about getting the ball to the rim. Desmond (Mason) got to the rim and Charlie Bell got to the rim. I think that’s real important to get to the free throw line and put up some points that way.”
Charlie Villanueva
(On knocking down the threes tonight…)
“I was feeling good. I’ve been struggling all year on the threes and I’ve been working on it. I can make the threes and I never lost confidence. I was struggling at one point but I kept working on them and it paid off today.”
(On the season high in assists…)
“We definitely got it done. We’re a tough team to beat when we’re passing the ball like that. Guys did a tremendous job of finding the open man and guys made big shots. It was a good feeling.”
(On holding off the late run by the SuperSonics…)
“It says a lot about us. Give a lot of credit to the SuperSonics, though. They made a push with us, but after that timeout we got it together. Guys made big plays and made free throws and sealed the game.”
Michael Ruffin
(On attacking the rebounds tonight…)
“That’s my focus when I go out there to just try to have fun and bring some energy and get rebounds.”
(On holding off a late run by Seattle…)
“We came out of the timeout and Charlie Bell got the reverse lay-up. That was a big possession for us. It was a big shot. That kind of got us scoring again and gave us the confidence to finish the game.”
Full AP recap
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Bucks injury report
Locker room: Charlie Villanueva & Royal Ivey
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