MILWAUKEE — Richard Jefferson scored 32 points and rookie Luc Richard Mbah a Moute added 17, making up for a missed chance in regulation and rallying the Milwaukee Bucks to a 112-104 overtime victory over the Washington Wizards at the Bradley Center on Wednesday night.
Mbah a Moute, a second-round pick, missed a shot that would have won it at the buzzer after Milwaukee overcame a 14-point, fourth-quarter deficit.
But he helped on both ends in overtime after Jefferson got it started with a dunk that gave the Bucks a 104-102 lead with 1:49 left.
After DeShawn Stevenson's loose ball foul, Mbah a Moute drove for a layup, then grabbed a rebound when Antawn Jamison missed a short shot and hit a 12-footer with 37 seconds left to give Milwaukee a 108-102 lead.
Darius Songaila's layup made it 108-104, but Luke Ridnour hit two free throws, Jamison missed a 3 and Ridnour added two more foul shots. Ridnour finished with 20 points and 11 assists.
Andrew Bogut had 10 points and 13 rebounds, and Ramon Sessions added 22 points for Milwaukee. Racine native Caron Butler scored 27 points for winless Washington, which also got 19 points and 10 rebounds from Jamison, 14 points from Nick Young and 10 points from Juan Dixon.
It appeared the Wizards would finally get their first win with an 85-71 lead with 9:58 to play, but the Bucks, who went 8 minutes without a point and were missing Michael Redd because of an ankle injury, stormed back.
The Bucks cut it to four on a jumper by Jefferson and a dunk in transition by Mbah a Moute with 5:03 left.
Three minutes later, Bogut hit a free throw to cut it to three at 95-92 and Ridnour made an open jumper with 1:58 to go to make it 95-94.
JaVale McGee hit the second of two free throws and Sessions tied it at 96 on a dunk with 1:16 left when Butler lost the ball trying to go behind his back.
On the Bucks' next possession, Mbah a Moute sent a bounce pass into Bogut for a dunk for Milwaukee's first lead since the first half. But Jamison's layup tied it at 98 with 21 seconds to go.
That set up one more chance for Milwaukee, and Ridnour got a screen and sent a pass to Mbah a Moute in the corner, but he missed a 17-footer at the buzzer.