SECAUCUS, N.J. -- After a season of injuries, the Milwaukee Bucks finally had something go right as they won the NBA lottery on Tuesday night and earned the right to pick first in the draft next month.
The Bucks had only a 6.3 percent chance of winning the lottery, but a couple of lucky charms provided by fans and carried by general manager Larry Harris helped Milwaukee jump over five teams to win its first lottery since 1994, the year they took Glenn Robinson.
Atlanta, which won a league-low 13 games and had the best chance of securing the No. 1 pick, will instead have the second choice in the June 28 draft.
Portland made the other big move in the lottery, jumping from No. 5 to third.
The big losers were New Orleans, Charlotte and Utah, which all dropped two spots in the order. The Hornets had the second-best chance to win the lottery but they slipped to No. 4. The Bobcats, who also had the rights to Cleveland pick in the lottery, went from No. 3 to No. 5. Utah, which had the fourth-worst record, fell to No. 6.
The lottery didn't change picks seventh through 14 with Toronto, New York, Golden State, the Los Angeles Lakers, Orlando, the Los Angeles Clippers, Charlotte and Minnesota keeping those spots.
Utah center Andrew Bogut, North Carolina forward Marvin Williams and Wake Forest point guard Chris Paul have been mentioned as the three best players available. All three were among the list of 108 players who filed as early entry candidates.
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