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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- The Charlotte Hornets aren't panicking -- yet. But they are very frustrated with their recent skid.
|  | | Sam Cassell drives toward two of his team-high 23 points. |
The Hornets dropped their fourth straight game Friday night, and 10th out of their past 13, falling 105-98 to the Milwaukee Bucks. Milwaukee moved 2½ games ahead of Charlotte in the Central Division.
"There's certain points where you can feel the frustration, and
when you're struggling it's magnified," guard David Wesley said.
"One turnover is like 'Ugh!' Missing a wide-open basket seems like
the end of the world, so you can really feel the frustration."
You can also see it.
Early in the fourth quarter, when the Bucks were pulling away, a fan harassed Charlotte coach Paul Silas to ride the officials harder for not calling fouls.
"Will you shut up?" Silas yelled back. "I'm about sick of you."
When the game was out of hand, the fan responded.
"You guys stink, go ahead and move to New Orleans," he said, referring to the Hornets' threat to leave Charlotte at the end of the season if they don't get a new arena.
Despite the exchange, Silas said the wheels haven't fallen off and pointed to the absence of center Elden Campbell and reserve forward Derrick Coleman as the reason the Hornets lost to the Bucks.
"We've gone through some tough circumstances, but there's no
cause for panic," he said. "In regard to where we are and where
we are going, I'm not panicking and I'm not going to, either."
Sam Cassell scored 23 points to lead the Bucks to their season-high sixth straight victory and 16th in their last 20 games.
Despite the seemingly easy victory over the Hornets, Milwaukee coach George Karl said the Bucks know it will be a battle with Charlotte for the Central Division title.
"Our schedule is a lot tougher than Charlotte's," he said. "Charlotte only has one more West Coast trip and then they're done, so things will get easier for them and we still have a tough road ahead."
But Charlotte's four-game trip -- which includes games against
Utah, the Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix -- starts in 10 days and
the Hornets won't have a chance if they don't start playing better.
"We need to get fresh legs, we need to get our swagger back," Wesley said. "We don't have that swagger that we had in the third quarter tonight for a whole game anymore."
Charlotte fought back from a 59-47 halftime lead -- the most points the Hornets have allowed in a half this season -- to take a 73-71 lead with 1:55 to play in the third.
But without Campbell, who had the flu, and Coleman, who sat out
with a bruised left knee, Charlotte had few big bodies to send in
to relieve Otis Thorpe and P.J. Brown.
They looked tired in the fourth quarter, and never could answer
the Bucks' offense, which shot 52 percent for the game.
"We were making shots, but we couldn't stop anything," guard Baron Davis said. "It looked like we forgot how to play defense."
Jason Caffey scored nine of his 16 points in the decisive fourth quarter, and combined with Cassell to score all 11 points in an
11-4 run that sealed the game.
Milwaukee led 85-81 with just over eight minutes to play when
Cassell and Caffey took over. Cassell started the run with two free
throws. Caffey was then called for goaltending a shot by Wesley,
but redeemed himself by scoring on a driving dunk that drew a foul.
He made the free throw, and after a miss by Jamal Mashburn, Cassell
scored on a jumper to put the Bucks up 93-83.
"Jason probably had his best game for us," Karl said. "It's not often that you get that kind of contribution coming off the bench."
Mashburn had his first career triple-double for Charlotte with
26 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, but continued his
feast-early, famine-late routine by scoring 17 in the first
quarter. Wesley added 23.
Glenn Robinson scored 20 for the Bucks.
Game notes
Ray Allen had his streak of scoring 20 or more points against the Hornets snapped at seven games. He finished with 11. Wesley and Davis combined to shoot 13-of-31... The Hornets had
Christian music group 4Him perform a free concert after the game in a move to attract a larger crowd. The incentive helped entice fans, 16,436 showed up -- an increase from the Hornets' average of 14,311.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Milwaukee Clubhouse
Charlotte Clubhouse
May: Free and easy, Karl remains a coach
RECAPS
Philadelphia 97
New Jersey 86
Toronto 101
Washington 79
Milwaukee 105
Charlotte 98
New York 97
Detroit 91
Denver 91
Cleveland 88
Golden State 103
Phoenix 95
Minnesota 98
Seattle 93
Miami 97
Vancouver 86
LA Lakers 114
Houston 101
FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT
George Karl Official Site
Baron Davis Official Site
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