SEATTLE (AP) -- Seattle SuperSonics forward Rashard Lewis went to

his first All-Star game in Denver in February and paid close

attention to all the players around him.

It's showing.

Lewis scored 29 points and Luke Ridnour added a career-high 21,

leading the Seattle SuperSonics to a 92-84 victory over the

Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night.

"Just being around all those guys, observing them and taking in

every thing I could has helped me," said Lewis of his All-Star

experience.

The best advice though, came from Minnesota's Kevin Garnett.

"He told me a lot of things I could work on during the summer

to keep my body healthy and continue to play an 82-game season and

play 35 and 40 minutes a night," Lewis said. "It felt like he

took me under his wing like I was his little brother."

With the Sonics short-handed, Lewis had to play 40 minutes

despite painful tendinitis in his left knee that has bothered him

for half the season.

"It's something that I can't get rid of until the season is

over so I'm going to have to hobble my way through it," he said.

Playing without Ray Allen, who sprained his right ankle Sunday

night against the Lakers in Los Angeles, the Northwest

Division-leading Sonics won their third game in a row to improve

their record to 46-20.

Lewis needed some scoring help and Ridnour, Seattle's starting

point guard, shot 6-for-11 and had six assists.

"There's some guys down and we've just got to find ways to

win," said Ridnour, who averaged 19.7 points for Oregon in

2002-2003 before leaving for the NBA after his junior season. His

previous career scoring high was 19.

Sonics coach Nate McMillan gave Ridnour the starting job in his

second season because of Ridnour's quickness.

"The one thing that I wanted at the beginning of the season was

ball pressure and a fast tempo," he said. "I thought Luke could

bring that to the floor."

The Sonics are 3-0 since losing top reserve Vladimir Radmanovic,

who probably is lost for the remainder of the regular season

because of a stress fracture in his right leg.

Michael Redd scored 22 points and Desmond Mason had 21 for the

Bucks, the last-place team in the Central Division which beat the

Sonics by 26 in Milwaukee in February. The Bucks lost for the fifth

time in seven games.

Milwaukee lost its sixth in a row on the road and dropped to

0-12 on the road against Western Conference opponents this season.

"It helped that Ray didn't play, but at the same time we beat

them earlier with Ray in Milwaukee," Redd said. "Seattle has a

lot of weapons, a lot of firepower, a lot of shooters."

Terry Porter, Milwaukee's coach, was happy to see Allen on the

bench in a stylish suit instead of a Sonics uniform.

"If we had to play them 10 times, I'd rather play them without

Ray 10 times than with him," Porter said.

Ronald Murray replaced Allen, a five-time All-Star, at shooting

guard and had 13 points, but shot only 5-for-16.

The Sonics outscored the Bucks 11-5 in the final 2:28 and held

Milwaukee without a basket in the final 4:50 until Redd's

meaningless layup with 13.2 seconds to go. Lewis' seventh 3-pointer

of the game gave Seattle an 84-79 lead with 2:28 left and Antonio

Daniels added a basket after getting the ball on a scramble with

1:51 left.

Murray hit a 3-pointer as time expired in the third quarter to

give Seattle a 68-63 lead and draw a large cheer from the crowd.

The Sonics led by 12 points twice in the second quarter and by

seven at halftime.

The Bucks took the lead at 59-58 on a jump shot by Joe Smith

with 3:06 left in the third quarter for their first lead since

being ahead 22-20 in the opening period.<

^Notes: @ Allen is day-to-day. McMillan said his ankle is not

swollen too badly so McMillan is hopeful he can play Thursday night

in Portland. ... The Bucks were without starting PG Maurice

Williams, who suffered a bruised left knee Sunday night at Denver.

Anthony Goldwire started in his place. Williams is day-to-day. ...

Sonics reserve PF Danny Fortson missed his third straight game

because of a sprained left ankle. ... Lewis tied his career high

with his seven 3-pointers. He's done it three times this season.