Milwaukee: The Milwaukee Bucks maintained their slim play-off chances by completing a 93-87 victory in overtime over the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday.
The tenth-placed Bucks (31-45) now trail the eighth-placed Indiana Pacers (35-42) by three-and-a-half games in the race for the final play-off position in the Eastern Conference, with six remaining.
"We still have a little bit of heartbeat for the play-offs," said Bucks centre Andrew Bogut.
"But if this was a couple weeks ago it would be nice."
Brandon Jennings, who was awful in regulation missing all six of his attempts from the floor, scored nine of his 13 points in overtime, including a three-pointer with 3:03 remaining to put his team into an 84-81 lead.
The Bucks battled back from a 48-39 half-time deficit in the third quarter, holding the 76ers to just 13 points to forge a tie heading into the final quarter.
"We got enough defensive stops to win the game, but in the third quarter they picked up their level of physicality," 76ers coach Doug Collins said.
Defence on top
Milwaukee built a 74-67 lead in the fourth but could not finish the 76ers off. Defence dominated the final four minutes in regulation as the teams combined to score just three points.
"We've had problems pretty much all year closing games out. But I think it all goes back to the offensive end," said Bucks guard John Salmons.
"All year, we struggled on the offensive end and that just continues down the stretch of games. It's been a problem all year trying to figure out the offensive end."
Salmons led the Bucks with 19 points and Bogut had a double-double with ten points and 11 rebounds.
Elton Brand led Philadelphia with 20 points and 12 rebounds and Jrue Holiday added 15 points and ten assists.
RESULTS
CHICAGO 113 Toronto 106
MEMPHIS 106 Minnesota 89
MILWAUKEE 93 Ph'delphia 87
GOLD. STATE 99 Dallas 92
LA CLIPPERS 98 Ok. City 92
