Updated 11/23/2008 03:47 PM
Bucks hold off Bobcats 79-74
CHARLOTTE — Ramon Sessions scored 18 points and hit two clinching free throws with 13 seconds left to help the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Charlotte Bobcats 79-74 on Saturday night for their second straight victory.
In an ugly game where both teams shot less than 40 percent from the field, the Bucks overcame another injury to a starter by getting a solid contribution from its backups.
Sessions continued his strong early season play and saw the bulk of the minutes in the backcourt after Luke Ridnour didn't return in the second half because of a sore right knee.
Charlie Villanueva added 15 points and eight rebounds for Milwaukee, which overcame 21 turnovers to hand the struggling Bobcats their fourth straight loss.
Gerald Wallace scored 18 points, and Emeka Okafor added 16 points and 18 rebounds before fouling out for Charlotte. The Bobcats, the NBA's lowest scoring team, had their lowest points total of the season.
Still, the Bobcats had a chance in a game lacking any offensive flow.
Shannon Brown's jumper with 1:01 left cut Milwaukee's once-10-point lead to 77-74. Richard Jefferson and Tyronn Lue then committed turnovers on the next two possessions, but Charlotte couldn't convert on either opportunity.
After Raymond Felton missed a runner in the lane, Sessions was fouled and hit both free throws to ice it.
Jefferson scored 15 points, and Andrew Bogut added 12 points and 17 rebounds for the Bucks, who overcame 37 percent shooting to beat a depleted team for the second straight night. Milwaukee snapped a three-game losing streak Friday with a home win over New York.
Not that the Bucks are anywhere near full strength, either.
Top scorer Michael Redd did not travel with the team, missing his 11th straight game with a high ankle sprain. Then Ridnour was sidelined, but the Bucks still had enough to beat the dysfunctional Bobcats, who fell to 3-9 under Larry Brown. didn't return after halftime because of a sore right knee.
The Bobcats, who played their fifth straight game without top scorer Jason Richardson (knee), shot 37 percent with 18 turnovers.
Frustrated by a lack of size and athleticism, Brown continued his lineup tinkering. Rookie first-round picks D.J. Augustin and Alexis Ajinca started for the second straight game, and Sean May never got off the bench as he fights conditioning and weight issues.
A night after scoring a career-high 26 points in a loss at Atlanta, Augustin scored seven points in the first 6 minutes, only to go scoreless until midway through the fourth quarter, when the Bucks led by 10.
Augustin's drought-breaking basket was memorable, a three-point play after a nifty behind-the-back dribble in transition. It sparked a 9-1 run that got the Bobcats back in the game.
Milwaukee shot an abysmal 32 percent in the first half, yet trailed only 36-35 in an ugly display that included missed alley-oop dunks, blown layups, bricked free throws and 23 combined turnovers.
Felton, playing alongside Augustin in Charlotte's small backcourt, had 14 points, nine rebounds and seven steals, and Charlotte stayed in it with its defense.
Notes:@ Brown said Richardson had the stitches taken out Sunday and the swelling is down in his right knee, signaling he could return within the next week. "He's a lot closer," Brown said. ... The Bobcats are expected to formalize the signing of C Dwayne Jones in the next few days. Jones has been playing in Turkey. ... Brown received his second technical foul in as many nights, courtesy of referee Eric Dalen in the second quarter.
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