(My Sportsbook) - The Washington Wizards and New York Knicks haven't been playing their best ball lately, but neither have the Bucks. As a result, Milwaukee has a fight on its hands for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

With only 12 games remaining, the Bucks hold the eighth seed in the East by 1 1/2 games over the Wizards and three games over the Knicks. Seventh-seeded Orlando has won its last four games to move three games ahead of Milwaukee.

The Bucks' acquisition of guard Gary Payton was supposed to put the team over the top and secure a postseason berth. However, the team is still haunted by problems that it failed to address at the trade deadline -- defense and rebounding. Milwaukee surrenders 99.4 points per game and averages an NBA- worst 39.3 boards per contest.

While Payton has played well for the Bucks, the team is just 7-10 since his arrival.

On the plus side, the Bucks have won two of their last three games and are coming off a 93-85 home victory over the New Orleans Hornets on Saturday. Milwaukee bounced back after dropping the front end of the home-and-home set on Friday, 113-98.

The backcourt duo of Payton (20) and Sam Cassell (21) combined for 41 points Saturday, with 18 coming in the fourth quarter. The Bucks shot 49 percent from the field and held the Hornets to 41 percent shooting.

"It was a big win for us coming off of last night's loss," Bucks head coach George Karl said. "We were a little bit embarrassed with our performance in New Orleans. It was important for us to come out tonight and play well. I thought we won this game because of our defense."

With the victory, Karl became the 14th coach in NBA history to reach 700 career wins.

Prior to the contest, the Bucks activated center Joel Przybilla from the injured list. Przybilla, who had missed 31 games with a sore left ankle, should give the Bucks some much-needed help up front.

"Joel will be a key for us down the stretch," Cassell said. "He's a legitimate shot-blocker down there. If he can put together games like he had tonight consistently, he will help us tremendously."

The center scored three points and grabbed six rebounds in 24 minutes of action Saturday.

Milwaukee embarks on a three-game road trip starting Tuesday in San Antonio with a tough matchup against the Spurs.