Thursday, February 8th (All times eastern)

Milwaukee Bucks (19-30) at New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets (22-27), 8 p.m.

(Sports Network) - The Milwaukee Bucks shoot for their first two-game winning streak since late December this evening when they pay a visit to the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets at the Ford Center.

Milwaukee ended a four-game losing streak with Tuesday's 116-111 victory over the Orlando Magic at the Bradley Center. Ruben Patterson scored eight-of-10 points during a crucial fourth-quarter run and ended with 27 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

Charlie Villanueva added 22 points and nine rebounds, while Charlie Bell chipped in 20 points for Milwaukee, which won for just the second time in 12 contests. The Bucks are bottom feeders in the Central Division and will try to work on an 8-21 road record tonight.

The Bucks have dropped seven in a row away from the Bradley Center.

Meanwhile, the Hornets have won three of their last four games, including Wednesday's 114-112 overtime victory over the Denver Nuggets in the finale of a three-game road trip.

Desmond Mason was the hero with a layup at the buzzer to lift the Hornets, who went 2-1 on the trip. Mason, who ended with 23 points, played a key role during a 16-4 run late in regulation, helping New Orleans/Oklahoma City erase a 12-point deficit.

Devin Brown and David West each added 17 points and seven rebounds in the hard-fought win. The Hornets will now hit the road for two games where they are 8-16 this season.

New Orleans/Oklahoma City is 18 games off the lead in the Southwest Division.

Thursday's showdown between the Bucks and Hornets is the first of three meetings this season. The initial meeting on January 13 at Milwaukee was postponed due to inclement weather and will be made up on April 3.

Both teams split a pair of meetings last season, but the Hornets have won two of three and five of the last eight encounters. The Bucks have lost five straight and six of the previous seven games at the Hornets.

02/08 10:43:39 ET