Despite Monta Ellis’ 38 points, the Denver Nuggets stifled the Bucks’ last chance for a regular season win at home Monday night. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Monta Ellis was huge for the Bucks, netting 14 of 25 baskets including 6-11 threes, usually one of the weaker areas of his offensive attack, and chipping in four gimmes from the free throw line to score 38 points. It was all for naught in the end, however, as Milwaukee couldn’t manage to contain the Denver Nuggets’ fast break scoring attack enough to keep the game in control for a second half comeback, eventually falling 112-111.

Despite an aching Achilles tendon in his left ankle, Brandon Jennings assumed point guard duties for the Bucks’ final home game of the regular. His effectiveness was less than stellar, to say the least. Chucking up five threes and coming up empty on each one is bad; going just 1-11 from the field in 29 minutes and totaling four points is hardly better than laying an egg. Jennings is capable of facilitating and had four assists, but taking the time to find a teammate on just one of those errant threes could have swung the game in Milwaukee’s favor.

The blame does not solely belong to Jennings, though. The loss is the team’s burden to bear, as always, and Jennings limited his turnovers, committing just one as opposed to the seven possessions he gave away when the Bucks traveled to Denver on Feb. 5. Ellis, for all the spacing he created at the perimeter and the damage he threatened to continue at the right elbow (where he was 2-4), turned the ball over a team-high four times, trailed closely by Ersan Ilyasova’s three TOs.

Even with the loss extending the Bucks’ losing streak to five games, the night was not all bad. In fact, there is some promise in the minutiae. John Henson gained valuable experience playing against one of the NBA’s best teams, albeit at a lower caliber than usual. He posted a double-double (14 points, 15 rebounds), going 6-13 from the field and cleaning the offensive glass better than anyone who took the court and wasn’t named JaVale McGee. (The two tied with eight offensive boards a piece in the Battle of Lanky Centers.) Any NBA big man can have one good night scoring and wrangling rebounds in the paint, though. Henson separated himself with four blocks and three steals while committing only one foul in 31 minutes and working the other end of the court with two assists. It is a not a LARRY SANDERS! line, but Henson’s performance is more than can be expected from most rookies who have seen limited playing time in a crowded front court.

If Henson gets the game ball or ties Ellis for it, Jennings has competition for the Charlie Brown “I Got a Rock” of the night in Ish Smith’s decidedly not magnificent 0-3 shooting and zero points in 20 minutes, although his six assists, two steals and one block probably qualify him to be Pigpen and relegate Jennings to Chuck status.

Ramshackle though the Bucks’ evening may look, credit goes to the Nuggets for executing their game plan to a tee. Led by Ty Lawson, they created 21 points in transition (Milwaukee had 10) and pounded the boards, out-rebounding the Bucks 58-44. Denver had 17 turnovers, all more or less negated by the 14-rebound differential spearheaded by McGee.

There is no shame in losing to the Nuggets and there is no use exploring hypothetical alternatives, like how things would have turned out if Ellis had been the primary ball-handler tonight. Not now, at least. There is an entire offseason for that. Now is the time when the Bucks must scramble to find a way to beat a top flight opponent on unfamiliar turf in less than 48 hours as the reality of escaping a six-game losing streak heading into the playoffs hinges on beating the Oklahoma City Thunder on the road Wednesday night. Almost certain death (via Miami Heat) is lurking in the playoffs, but Wednesday’s result could be the difference between a despondent, lifeless postseason showing and a grudge match against a team the Bucks beat three of four times during the 2011-12 regular season.

Mar 4, 2013; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks guard J.J. Redick (5) reacts after scoring a 3-point basket in overtime during the game against the Utah Jazz at the Bradley Center. The Bucks beat the Jazz 109-108 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

Clutch time. It’s when Monta Ellis has played some of the Bucks’ most important ball in recent games, but tonight it was Brandon Jennings who hit a three to tie the game 99-99 with 13 seconds to go against the Utah Jazz, who wouldn’t score quickly enough to stave off overtime and couldn’t outgun Milwaukee in extra minutes to clinch a rare road win as the Bucks sealed a 109-108 victory to tie their longest win streak of the season at four straight games.

The Jazz were minus one of their primary big men as Al Jefferson stayed on the sideline recovering from an ankle sprain, but Paul Millsap returned to score 22 points, grab 14 rebounds and scare the living bejeezus out of Bucks fans when the refs missed his foul on Larry Sanders late in OT and gave the Jazz an extra, ultimately futile possession. His late three-point attempt? Not a terribly efficient look, but certainly terrifying.

The Bucks got production out of everyone they needed it from. Monta Ellis (34 points) and Brandon Jennings (20 points) took the majority of shots and carried the scoring load per usual, going a combined 23-35 from the field while Sanders anchored the interior, snagging 11 defensive boards to go toward a total of 16 rebounds, six blocks and eight points. Sanders’ biggest moment came in the final seconds of regulation when he denied Jazz swingman Gordon Hayward an at-rim opportunity to end the game. J.J. Redick, seemingly having a handle on things since being acquired from the Magic, scored the first eight of Milwaukee’s 10 points in overtime, though they hardly would have mattered had his foul after another Sanders block in the final minute of OT changed the outcome of the game.

For all the talk about Tobias Harris’ performances against sub-standard teams with the Orlando Magic, Redick is doing what he was brought in to do: offer floor spacing for the rest of the Bucks cast. Tonight it paid off as Ellis scored most of his points near the rim, but even in what ranks as a relatively cold game for Redick (7-14, 3-9 from three, one turnover), his presence also had a positive influence on Jennings. There is a slightly lighter scoring burden for him to carry and he no longer has to feel pressured to be a shooting threat from perimeter. Yet he went 4-5 from long range and comfortably dished out 17 assists to go with three steals at the other end of the court. It was Jennings’ second-highest assist total of the year next to the 19 he recorded against Toronto on Saturday, and the most steals he had in a game since forcing four turnovers against Philadelphia on Feb. 13.

It wasn’t a walk in the park. The score doesn’t indicate as much, after all. The Jazz managed to gain the edge in points in the paint, 56-52, and surrendered only 11 fast break points to the speedy Jennings/Ellis duo that has the Bucks ranked as the NBA’s fourth highest pace of play team. What did the Jazz in was a combination of failing to score on second chances (they had 23 offensive rebounds as a team) and committing 21 turnovers that led to 24 points for the Bucks — two more points that the Jazz scored off Milwaukee’s 17 turnovers. Derrick Favors put up 23 points and 15 rebounds as one of six Utah players to score in double-digits, but it is also difficult to win when three starters fail to score in a combined 52 minutes of playing time. (Note to Marvin Williams, Earl Watson and Randy Foye: you all get honorary game balls tonight.)

The Bucks shot 47.4 percent from the floor, including a 41.7 percentage from three that got them by as the Jazz shot eight percent higher from the free throw line on 18 more attempts. In the long run, a team cannot shoot so poorly from the charity stripe and succeed, but for a game in which every player that saw action made a contribution — tangible or not — the Bucks can be happy with not only the win, but with the development they are seeing as they inch closer to claiming the Eastern Conference’s eighth seed.