Bogut has 26 points, 13 rebounds, Bucks return to .500 with win over Hornets

Bogut has 26 points, 13 rebounds to lead Bucks

MILWAUKEE — Andrew Bogut had 26 points and 13 rebounds to continue his string of dominant performances, leading the Milwaukee Bucks to a 115-95 victory over the New Orleans Hornets on Wednesday night.

Fresh off his 24-point, 20-rebound performance in a rout of the Knicks on Monday night, Bogut had his fourth straight double-double in Milwaukee’s fourth straight win.

The Bucks (28-28) are tied for seventh in the Eastern Conference and back at .500 for the first time since Dec. 12. It’s the first time Milwaukee has been .500 or better after the All-Star break since 2005-06, when the Bucks last made the playoffs.

New Orleans’ rookies led the way again. Marcus Thornton had 25 points, and Darren Collison added 22, but the Hornets (30-28) slipped three games behind eighth-place Portland in the Western Conference.

Luc Richard Mbah a Moute had 10 points and 10 rebounds, and John Salmons added 18 points for the Bucks. Salmons has reached double figures in all four games since being traded at the deadline from Chicago and in his last eight overall.

New Orleans had won eight straight in this series, but never led by more than a point and trailed by six at the half despite shooting 48.8 percent.

That’s when Milwaukee turned up the defensive pressure, pulling away to start the second half and leading by 19 in the third by holding the Hornets to 5-of-19 shooting from the field in the quarter.

An unexpected lake effect snowstorm made it difficult for the Bucks before the game and several players said it took two hours or more to make it to the Bradley Center. It took coach Scott Skiles 90 minutes to travel 13 miles, but his Bucks showed little rust from their travel woes.

Bogut came out and hit his first four shots and scored 12 points in the first quarter, then scored 10 more in the third as Milwaukee led 89-72. Bogut sat the entire fourth quarter.

NOTES: Hornets F David West had 19 points and nine rebounds. … Hornets G Morris Peterson strained his left hamstring less than 5 minutes into the game and did not return. … Bogut had a stretch of six straight double-doubles from Jan. 11-Jan. 20, but the Bucks went 2-4 in that stretch. … Bucks C Primoz Brezec made his debut after being acquired in a deadline trade with Philadelphia.