Bucks hold off Knicks, 119-114

MILWAUKEE -- Ersan Ilyasova was one of three Milwaukee Bucks' players with 20-plus points as his 26 led the Bucks to a 119-114 victory over the Knicks at the Bradley Center.

Brandon Jennings and Mike Dunleavy netted 25 points apiece while Carlos Delfino and Drew Gooden scored 14 and 12, respectively. Jennings also dished out 10 assists as the Bucks pulled within two games of the Knicks for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Amare Stoudemire paced the Knicks offense with 27 points to go with 11 rebounds and Carmelo Anthony added 22 points. Jeremy Lin chipped in a double- double with 20 points and 13 assists, but turned the ball over five times as New York dropped its fourth straight contest.

"They hit some tough shots," Lin said after the game. "We didn't get all the rebounds we should have gotten. Tonight wasn't a lack of energy, it wasn't a lack of heart or will. They just came out with this win, but we played extremely hard."

The Bucks used four triples in the third to turn a four-point halftime deficit into a 10-point advantage at the end of three.

The lead jumped to 15 as Jennings finished a layup with 7:29 to play in the fourth, but the Knicks reeled off the next 12 to pull within three, 108-105, with 5:03 remaining.

Delfino ended the surge with a triple, but the Knicks scored six of the next seven to make it a 112-111 contest with less than three minutes to play.

The Bucks lead remained at one as Lin's stifling defense forced Jennings to throw up a prayer with the shot clock running down. However, Ilyasova was there to clean up the mess as his putback pressed the lead to 116-113 with 28.7 ticks on the clock.

After each team turned the ball over on their respective possessions, Anthony was fouled and managed 1-of-2 at the line to make it a two-point game with 10.8 remaining, but the Bucks would go 3-of-4 from the stripe to seal the victory.

"We were able to atleast make enough plays again to win the game," said Bucks head coach Scott Skiles. "Both teams had good open looks all over the place and we obviously couldn't stop them, we just needed to score more than them and we did that tonight."

The Knicks shot 63 percent in the first quarter (14-of-22), but Dunleavy scored 10 straight for the Bucks in a 14-2 run that closed out the quarter with Milwaukee leading 36-34.

Dunleavy finished the quarter 6-of-7 from the field and 2-of-2 from three-point range en route to 14 points in the first frame.

Ilyasova kept the Bucks close in the second as he scored 13 points in the stanza but the Knicks secured a 65-61 lead heading into the locker room.