¡¡¡¡In the midst of the most trying season of his NBA career, Ray Allen had the game of his life.

¡¡¡¡The Hornets' Bryce Drew, right, and Bucks' Greg Anthony give chase. Allen scored a career-high 47 points thanks to a club-record 10 3-pointers, and the slumping Milwaukee Bucks took a step toward earning a playoff berth by beating Charlotte 98-91 Sunday.

¡¡¡¡"Ray just put them on his shoulders and wouldn't let them lose," Hornets coach Paul Silas said. "That's what great players are supposed to do."

¡¡¡¡Allen's eight 3s after halftime tied an NBA record for 3-pointers in a half and his 47 points were the most by a Bucks player since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored 50 against Portland on Jan. 19, 1975.

¡¡¡¡And Allen basically did it on one leg.

¡¡¡¡He has been playing all season with knee tendinitis and an atrophied quadriceps muscle in his left leg -- the result of Philadelphia's Eric Snow bangingsintoshim in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals last year.

¡¡¡¡"That's the confidence I think I needed, working throughshavingsthe injured knee, and the confidence my team needed," Allen said.The Bucks, in danger of falling from Eastern Conference favorite to the draft lottery in one of the biggest collapses in NBA history, snapped a five-game losing skid and won for just the fifth time in 20 games.

¡¡¡¡Allen was forced to step up with Sam Cassell curtailed by a toe injury and limited to a season-low two points, and Glenn Robinson slowed by a stiff neck."Ray Allen was playing out of his mind," Hornets forward P.J. Brown said.

¡¡¡¡Allen took turns schooling defenders David Wesley and Stacey Augmon, neither of whom could keep up."There's nothing wrong with me," Wesley said when asked why he played only 11 minutes in the second half. "When a guy is that hot, you just have to do something else to try to cool him off. Nobody could do that today."

¡¡¡¡The Bucks (40-40) are scrapping with Toronto and Indiana for the final two playoff spots in the East. Milwaukee owns tiebreakers over both the Raptors and Pacers.Allen looked nothing like the player who's been bothered by a bum left knee all season, costing him 13 games and robbing him of his explosive first step -- until after the game, when he hobbled around the locker room.

¡¡¡¡"I'm struggling right now, my knee's throbbing," Allen said after logging 44 minutes.

¡¡¡¡Allen, whose previous best was 43 points, topped the franchise mark of nine 3s, set two months ago by guard Michael Redd.