By Drew Olson Special to OnMilwaukee.com Published Nov 11, 2006 at 10:56 PM
Bucks guard Michael Redd’s performance already was historic when the ball left his fingertips, but one more swish would have made it vaulted it into another category altogether.

Unbelievable? Surreal? Transcendent?

Those words just miss the mark, just like Redd’s last-second three-pointer fell off the rim during the Bucks’ 113-111 loss to Utah Saturday night at the Bradley Center.

Redd scored 57 points to break Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s franchise record of 55, set against Boston on Dec. 10, 1971.

Redd scored 39 of those points in the second half to help the Bucks overcome a hideous defensive performance that put them in a 24-point hole at one point.

"I certainly didn't intend to do that," said Redd, who made 18 of 32 shots including six of 12 three-pointers. "It just happened. I felt great. The rim felt like a big ol’ hole."

The Bucks, who scored 42 points in the fourth quarter, gave up a 16-0 run in the second half before clawing back from a giant hole in the game to tie the score on Redd’s three-pointer with 6.9 seconds left.

Jazz coach Jerry Sloan contemplated calling a timeout, but did not. Deron Williams sprinted up court, drew the defense toward him and dished to Matt Harpring for a basket. Redd was supposed to be guarding the baseline on the play, but was caught out of position.

"I think we thought Deron Williams was going to take the ball to the basket," said Bucks coach Terry Stotts, whose team has lost four in a row and is 2-5 this season. "Mike stepped up. It wasn't’ a case of celebrating or not being alert."

After a timeout, the Bucks got the ball to Redd but his three-pointer missed the mark as the horn sounded.

"I wanted to get the win," Redd said. "(The record) probably would have felt better if we had gotten the win. Sixty (points) was close."

"He was just sensational," said Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, whose team got 32 points from Carlos Boozer and 27 from Williams.

"We didn't have anyone to guard him. We had a lot of people get in foul trouble. we're not a great athletic team out there, anyway. He’s just one of those guys in the world out there that can get open, and when you're guarding him, he’s still open."

Stotts said he wasn't sure if he’d ever seen a performance like that in person.

"Michael showed a lot of heart," he said.
Drew Olson Special to OnMilwaukee.com

Host of “The Drew Olson Show,” which airs 1-3 p.m. weekdays on The Big 902. Sidekick on “The Mike Heller Show,” airing weekdays on The Big 920 and a statewide network including stations in Madison, Appleton and Wausau. Co-author of Bill Schroeder’s “If These Walls Could Talk: Milwaukee Brewers” on Triumph Books. Co-host of “Big 12 Sports Saturday,” which airs Saturdays during football season on WISN-12. Former senior editor at OnMilwaukee.com. Former reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.