The Bulls are next

Now comes the hard part for the Bucks.

With two victories over the reeling New York Knicks and their gaffe against Sacramento behind them, the Bucks will close out the week against the Chicago Bulls, who have emerged as one of the elite teams in the league, Saturday night at the Bradley Center.

The Bucks are 0-3 against Chicago this season.

There is a limited supply of tickets available for tonight’s game.

With their 102-96 victory over the Knicks Friday at Madison Square Garden, the Bucks picked up a game in the playoff race on Indiana which lost at home to Sacramento. The Bucks lost to the Kings Wednesday in the Bradley Center.

“We don’t worry about (the Pacers) but we want to keep trying to win,” said center Andrew Bogut. “We have a tough schedule. (Tonight) is going to be a real battle and hopefully we can steal one against one of the best teams in the NBA. We did ourselves no favors (in losing to Sacramento) so we have our work cut out for us.”

Said point guard Brandon Jennings, “We have to take care of business. Now we play against Chicago, a team that’s No. 1. They’ve got the MVP of the NBA on their team (in Derrick Rose) and we have to go and take care of business. We’re trying to make that push for the playoffs.”

View full story

NHL, NBA Playoff and Michael Buble tickets on sale this weekend

NHL Playoff tickets and NBA Playoff tickets for certain teams, as well as tickets to several upcoming concert dates from Michael Buble are on sale throughout the weekend ending March 28 as compiled by TicketNews.

Starting off this weekend's onsales are tickets to the upcoming NHL and NBA playoff season. Tickets go on sale this morning for the upcoming first and possible second round Chicago Bulls playoff games. Currently in possession of first place in the NBA's Eastern Conference, the Bulls would clinch home court advantage should they maintain their position until the end of the regular season.

Also among today's onsales are tickets to the NHL's Dallas Stars first round home games, while Saturday morning offers tickets to first round Detroit Red Wings playoff games. While the Red Wings appear to be in a solid position to clinch a playoff spot, the Stars are currently one point shy of qualifying for a playoff spot.

View full story

NBA: Warriors rout of Raptors 138-100

Oakland, CA - Monta Ellis scored 27 points and led seven Golden State players in double figures in a 138-100 rout of the Toronto Raptors.

The Warriors set an NBA season-high with 84 points in the first half. Dorell Wright tallied 26 points, Stephen Curry 23 and David Lee 21, including the first made three-pointer of his career.

Everything seemed to be falling for the Warriors. They scored 45 in the opening quarter, ended the game shooting 61.4 percent and snapped a six-game slide.

"I wanted to send a message to our team that we are building," Warriors head coach Keith Smart said. "This is a process. The way we have always done it at this time of year, to sit back and not play, you've got your better players on your team who want to play and will play, and that's a good thing."

view full story

L.A. Lakers: Are Gasol, Bynum, and Odom the NBA's Top Postseason Advantage?

Kobe Bryant may lead the Los Angeles Lakers to the 2010-11 NBA Finals, but if the team hopes to capture their 3rd consecutive title it will be because of the play of Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, and Lamar Odom.

Gasol, Odom, and Bynum give the Lakers one of the biggest, most talented, and productive front lines in the NBA, and it may be an advantage that no other team can match in the postseason.

The only other trio that even comes close to matching the production of Gasol, Bynum, and Odom is the Chicago Bulls' Joakim Noah, Carlos Boozer, and Taj Gibson.

The Lakers' players average 44.8 points per game and 27 rebounds, while the Bulls' trio averages 37 points and 25.3 rebounds.

View full story

Matthews powers Portland past Philadelphia

PORTLAND, Ore. – Wesley Matthews had 17 of his 28 points in the first quarter, helping the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Philadelphia 76ers 110-101 Saturday night.

Gerald Wallace added 25 points and a season-high eight assists for the Blazers (40-29), who won for the seventh time in nine games to move within a half-game of Denver for the fifth playoff spot in the Western Conference. LaMarcus Aldridge had 18 points and Nicolas Batum finished with 16.

Lou Williams had 24 points, part of a 59-point night for Philadelphia's reserves. Thaddeus Young had 19 points and Jodie Meeks added 17.

The Sixers (36-34) played without Andre Igoudala, who has been bothered by knee tendinitis. Leading scorer Elton Brand was held to 10 points.

The Blazers led the whole way. Philadelphia was as close as 92-89 with 9:11 remaining after Brand hit three straight shots, but Portland responded with a 9-0 run.

View full story

Bynum may be NBA's biggest big man

Others are taller and some weigh more, but is there a bigger big man than Andrew Bynum in the NBA? Bynum, officially listed at 7-foot and 285 pounds, certainly measured up against the Orlando Magic's Dwight Howard, who's 6-11, 275.

"He's a big guy, man," Orlando point guard Jameer Nelson said of Bynum after the Lakers rallied to defeat the Magic 97-84 on Monday night at Staples Center for their 10th victory in 11 games since the All-Star break.

"He's a handful," Nelson continued. "It's like he's out there and you think you've got the ball, and he has it in his hands. You're jumping for the ball, but he's just standing there tipping it to himself to get those extra shots."

Bynum scored 10 points and matched his career high with 18 rebounds Monday, his fourth consecutive game with 10 or more points and his sixth straight with 12 or more rebounds. He's had a big impact on the Lakers' winning ways since the All-Star break.

After rounding into form slowly following offseason right knee surgery that sidelined him for the first 24 games of 2010-11, Bynum has become a force in the paint for the Lakers. His season averages have risen to 11.6 points and 8.8 rebounds.

View full story

Impressive Lakers roll past Orlando in 2nd half

LOS ANGELES – By the time Kobe Bryant talked himself into a little confidence in his swollen ankle in the second half, Andrew Bynum and the Los Angeles Lakers' reserves had already taken care of Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic.

Pau Gasol scored 23 points, Bryant added 16 while playing on a sprained left ankle, and the Lakers roared away in the second half for their 10th win in 11 games, 97-84 Monday night.

Bynum had 10 points, a career high-tying 18 rebounds and four blocks while hounding Howard into nine turnovers — four more than the entire Lakers squad — in another eye-catching low-post game for the Lakers' young center.

It all added up to a rather easy night of work for Bryant, who decided to play despite seriously rolling his ankle during the third quarter of Saturday's win at Dallas.

"It was more mental," said Bryant, who went 7 for 19 and missed eight shots in the first half. "It affected my bounce a little bit just because of the trust factor, just trusting it in the first half. Then at halftime, I just gave it a little pep talk."

View full story

Bryant struggles and still leads Lakers over Mavs

DALLAS – Kobe Bryant overcame a sore ankle to score 16 points, helping the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Dallas Mavericks 96-91 on Saturday night.

Bryant shot just 6 of 20, but scored six points and assisted on the other basket in a 9-0 run by the Lakers late in the second quarter. That snapped a tie and put them ahead to stay.

After Bryant came down awkwardly on his left ankle late in the third quarter and left the game for a bit, the Lakers immediately scored eight consecutive points to stretch the lead to 10.

The Mavericks (47-19) are only a half-game ahead of Los Angeles (47-20) for second place in the Western Conference.