Bucks lose, allow Bobcats to sweep season series

Bucks lose, allow Bobcats to sweep season series

Published Mar. 16, 2014 3:40 p.m. ET

MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Kemba Walker scored 21 points and Al Jefferson added 16 of his 20 in the second half to help the Charlotte Bobcats beat the Milwaukee Bucks 101-92 on Sunday for their fourth straight victory.

Gary Neal added 18 in his return to Milwaukee after the Bucks traded him to Charlotte last month. Gerald Henderson scored 14 as the Bobcats matched their longest winning streak of the season, set Feb. 18-22.

Brandon Knight scored 21 points and Ramon Sessions added 18. Jeff Adrien and John Henson each had 12, but it wasn't enough to stop the Bobcats from their first sweep of a season series from the Bucks.

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Neal led the way in the fourth quarter as the Bobcats slowly pulled away. He scored seven the Bobcats' first 12 points and finished with 10 in the period.

Josh McRoberts hit a 3-pointer and then Neal added a jumper that gave Charlotte an 88-85 lead. Khris Middleton answered with a basket to pull Milwaukee within one, but Jefferson scored on a hook shot and layup to end any chance of the Bucks' win.

Neal continues to rebound from a one-game trip to the bench.

After Neal scored 19 points in a 105-98 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday, Bobcats coach Steve Clifford benched him in Wednesday's 98-85 win at Washington for an "internal team matter." Neal scored 19 in the 105-93 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday.

Neal and Luke Ridnour faced their former teammates for the first time since being traded by the Bucks last month.

Milwaukee sent Neal and Ridnour to Charlotte on Feb. 20 for Adrien and Ramon Sessions. Neal complained about his role with the Bucks and clashed with coach Larry Drew and center Larry Sanders, who is out indefinitely with a fractured orbital bone.

Neal got into a heated exchange with Sanders in the Bucks' locker room after the 116-100 loss to the Suns in Phoenix on Jan. 4. Then Neal, in his fourth season in the NBA, fell out of the rotation when Drew played younger players.

The sparse crowd booed when Neal entered the game in the first quarter and when he made two free throws in the second.

Notes: Bucks F Ersan Ilyasova missed the game due to a sore right ankle.

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