Bucks' John Salmons picking up his play

Los Angeles — John Salmons carried the Milwaukee Bucks during the stretch run last season, making a huge difference after arriving in a February trade deadline deal with the Chicago Bulls.

Now the veteran guard is one of the team's leading figures after signing a five-year contract as a free agent in the off-season.

So his recent play bodes well for the Bucks, who have a chance for a winning road trip when they play the team with the league's worst record, the Sacramento Kings, on Thursday night.

The Bucks are coming off a shocking 98-79 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday at the Staples Center. And Salmons played his part with a solid offensive game (20 points, six assists) and gritty defensive work against Lakers star Kobe Bryant.

Salmons made a play in the fourth quarter that told everything about the Bucks' effort and determination.

Bryant drove past him and Salmons slipped to the floor, but the Bucks player reached out while sitting and stripped the ball from Bryant.

It added to Bryant's rising frustration and helped fuel a critical 8-0 burst that allowed the Bucks to grab an 85-72 lead with 4:11 remaining.

A few minutes later Bryant screamed at referee Haywoode Workman after being called for charging and was ejected with consecutive technical fouls.

"I think the only thing you can do is really try to make it as tough as possible for him," Salmons said of defending Bryant, the most valuable player of the last two NBA Finals. "Just try to contest everything, try to make everything hard and compete against him.

"He's going to hit tough shots and you just can't get frustrated when he hits those."

Salmons had only five points in 32 minutes at Dallas last week as the Bucks scored a 103-99 victory. Then he came down with a case of back spasms and missed the next game at San Antonio.

He scored 18 points in a home loss to Utah on Saturday but shot just 5 of 15. And he took only one shot and was held scoreless in the first half against Portland on Monday as the Bucks fell far behind in an embarrassing 106-80 defeat.

But he started to find an offensive rhythm in the second half against the Trail Blazers, getting 23 points. And he continued to show that form against the Lakers.

"I thought all the guys were trying to get in there and hit the seams, trying to put the pressure on their defense," Bucks coach Scott Skiles said.

"John had a couple right at the rim that rimmed out again for him. But we need him to go in there and make those plays."

Salmons was 7 for 9 at the free-throw line, including 4 of 6 in the fourth quarter when he scored 11 points to help the Bucks seal their victory.
"I tried to make Kobe and Ron (Artest) work on the defensive end as well," Salmons said.

With point guard Brandon Jennings out of the lineup for four to six weeks with a broken left foot, Salmons will have to take on an increased scoring role. He faces his former team Thursday in Sacramento - he spent two-plus seasons with the Kings before being traded to the Bulls in February 2009.

The Bucks are still fighting their injury woes with Jennings, Carlos Delfino, Drew Gooden and Corey Maggette out, although Maggette (concussive symptoms) joined the team in Los Angeles and could be available soon.

"Right from the beginning of camp we had multiple players sitting on the side watching, so it started off that way," Skiles said. "We've had our moments where we've played pretty good basketball and moments where we haven't.

"So we've just got to sort it out. Even though we're missing guys again, we've got to find a way to remain competitive out there."

Salmons sat out the entire exhibition season with a sprained right knee. But he has missed just one regular-season game and is averaging 13.3 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists. He has played the most total minutes (904) of any Bucks player and is averaging nearly 35 minutes.

"If we can continue to get that effort, we can be tough," Salmons said after the victory at the Staples Center.

"We still haven't been healthy all year. We've just got to go in every night, play hard, try to compete and see what happens."



(jsonline.com)