The Bucks may not be oozing confidence, but still ... it's got to be in abundance these days.
After rallying to beat Atlanta Monday night -- the Bucks' third victory in a row -- everybody in the team's locker room was feeling pretty good.
"We're finding ways to win," said center Andrew Bogut.
That they are. On Monday, Bogut, who admittedly had played poorly during the western swing, was held to just nine points and 10 boards. Fortunately, John Salmons once again stepped up, nearly single-handedly bringing Milwaukee back into the game during the fourth quarter and finished with 32 points.
Salmons scored 16 of his points during the final period, hitting five of seven shots and making all five of his free-throw attempts.
"He got us back in the game and then took it over," Bogut said. "Jumpers, drives, free throws, whatever he put up in that quarter it was going in."
Salmons wasn't a one-man show, however. Brandon Jennings, too, had an off night, scoring just two points on 1 of 8 shooting with a lone assist. He played just 17 minutes and wasn't even on the floor for Milwaukee during the decisive final minutes.
Luke Ridnour was in Jennings' place and didn't disappoint, scoring eight of his 18 points in the fourth. Carlos Delfino, too, chipped in 18 points for the Bucks, who won their eighth consecutive home game and improved to 39-30.
"It wouldn't have been that long ago if Brandon went 1-8 and Ersan (Ilyasova) went 1-6, and Bogut went 4-11 that we'd win a game or even be in a game," said head coach Scott Skiles. "We've got more depth now and we can play some different ways, and tonight we went small and the guys did a great job with it."
As well as the Bucks have been playing lately, winning 15 of their last 17; they haven't always been firing on all cylinders. They struggled at times in Denver, Sacramento and Los Angeles, despite winning the last two games of the trip.
Monday's victory wasn't without blemish, either. Again, the Bucks came out of the gate flat and somewhat listless, and needed a late rally to pull it out. It was a problem that plagued the team in each of its victories on the road trip and its something that, come playoff time could be the Bucks' Achilles' heel.
"It's something we'll have to improve on for the playoffs," Salmons says.
Still, winning 20 of your last 25 -- no matter how you get it done -- breeds confidence. For a young team, of which little was expected, building a winning mindset is one of the first steps towards competitiveness.
Home court advantage: Dominating the home court, which the Bucks have done this year, has been an important goal for the team and, at 24-9 in games played at the Bradley Center.
Monday kicked off a five-game home stand and the Bucks play eight of their last 13 games in Milwaukee, though Skiles warns that the comforts of home bring their own challenges.
"More than anything, we've got to make sure we don't feel like, 'Hey, we've got five games at home now; we can take a deep breath and relax," Skiles said. "That's what we can't fall prey to because these are all very big games. On the other hand, we do have five in a row at home. We'd like to take advantage of the schedule."
Bogut struggling: Looking at box scores from the games out west, you'd think Bogut played OK.
"If you looked at the stats, you could say that he did play well," Skiles said. "But he knows; he talked about it this morning. He didn't have a very good trip."
Bogut got into early foul trouble and played just 15 minutes against Denver, scoring two points with three boards. Skiles expects Bogut to return to form soon, especially if he starts playing with the aggressiveness he showed through most of the season.
"He knows we need him and he's a huge part of our team," Skiles said. "He knows if not the leader he's one of the leaders on the team."
Lucky 7: After Monday's victory, the Bucks reduced their magic number for clinching a playoff spot to seven; any combination of seven Milwaukee victories or losses by the Chicago Bulls will give the Bucks their first playoff spot in four years.
Jump shots: Since Luc Richard Mbah a Moute took over as the starting power forward on Jan. 20, the Bucks are 23-7 ... John Salmons' 20.5 ppg with the Bucks is the highest average for a mid-season acquisition since Flynn Robinson averaged 20.3 during the 1968-1969 season ... The Bucks have beaten their last five opponents with better records (Cleveland, Boston, Utah, Denver, Atlanta) ... Milwaukee is 19-4 against Atlanta at the Bradley Center since the 1996-97 season ... The Bucks' 24 home victories at the Bradley Center represents the team's highest total since going 25-16 in the 2005-06 season ... Bogut has recorded at least one block in 34 straight games.
