It was a wild finish at the BMO Harris Bradley Center on Monday night, as the host Milwaukee Bucks and visiting Denver Nuggets battled back and forth in a nip-and-tuck fourth quarter that saw 65 points scored, three ties and 12 lead changes in the final 12 minutes. Behind a sizzling stanza from Monta Ellis — 19 of his game-high 38 points game in the fourth quarter, including a thrilling 4-point play that gave Milwaukee a 111-110 lead with 14.2 seconds left — the East's slumping No. 8 seed had a chance to end a four-game skid and notch an impressive win over a Western Conference power. Just one problem: Milwaukee had to give the ball back to Ty Lawson. After triggering the inbounds, Lawson darted in from the left sideline, took a handoff from Denver forward Wilson Chandler and headed to the top of the key. Rather than pull back to drain the clock or trigger a coach-called action, Lawson continued to press his right-hand dribble against the defense of Ellis, entering the paint before stopping on a dime inside the foul line, leaving Monta in the dust and raising up for a short jumper that splashed through, putting Denver back up by one with 9.3 ticks remaining. (Like it should surprise us that Nuggets coach George Karl wanted his point guard to go fast.)
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