Bucks take down Kobe-less Lakers

Charlie Bell added 20 points for the Bucks, who ended a two-game slide and took advantage of Los Angeles playing without Kobe Bryant.

Bryant was serving a one-game suspension for his elbow to Marko Jaric’s head in Tuesday night’s double-overtime loss to Minnesota. The play was similar to the one that earned him the same suspension earlier this season after striking San Antonio’s Manu Ginobili on the follow-through of a shot attempt.

Minus their star, the Lakers were helpless. Maurice Evans had a team-high 22 points and Brian Cook tallied 20 for Los Angeles, which has lost four in a row.

With the game tied at 21 after one quarter, Ruben Patterson’s consecutive buckets in the early stages of the second gave Milwaukee the lead for good, 25-21. The cushion later increased to 47-39 after a Bogut bucket and the Bucks cruised into halftime with a 50-44 lead.

Then, still ahead by six points, 58-52, Bell sparked a 13-2 run that gave the Bucks control. Bell had seven points during the surge, which gave Milwaukee a 71-54 lead with 3 1/2 minutes left until the fourth.

The Bucks increased their lead to 77-61 going into the final 12 minutes. Then went ahead by 20 points for the first time after Bell’s three-pointer for an 82-61 advantage early in the fourth and Milwaukee cruised to the final buzzer.

Patterson ended with 13 points for the Bucks, who ended a five-game home losing streak to the Lakers and swept the season series from LA for the first time since the 2000-01 season.

Game Notes

Milwaukee shot a season-best 59.5 percent from the floor...The Bucks improved to 14-13 at home...LA fell to 13-19 on the road, falling to 0-3 on its current four-game road trip...Michael Redd had just 10 points.