Bucking convention: boosted by T.J. Ford's return from a career-threatening injury, Milwaukee is winning with a rare combination of size, shooting and--most important--speed.(NBA)

First, there was cheering, the frenzy of a home crowd watching its team cut a 21-point deficit to near single digits in the fourth quarter. Then there was a side pick-and-roll, with Bucks forward Joe Smith screening Timberwolves defenders Kevin Garnett and Sam Cassell and freeing room for rookie point guard T.J. Ford to burst to the basket. Then there was Timberwolves center Mark Madsen, 70 pounds heavier than Ford, sliding over on defense. Then Ford jumping into Madsen. Ford losing his feet. Ford crashing to the court like an anvil, motionless.

Then there was quiet. For Ford, there was a familiar numbness in his back and neck. Fifteen feet away, seated on press row, a visiting scout, well-aware of Ford's history of back problems, noted, "The Bucks' worst nightmare."

That was February 24, 2004. Skip ahead to last week, 21 months later. The Bucks are leading Golden State by 12 with 4:14 to go in the third quarter. Ford gets the ball on a rebound, zips past Baron Davis into the lane and flings a bounce pass to Michael Redd beyond the 3-point line. As Redd knocks in the shot, Ford tumbles headlong, hitting the floor and the basket stanchion.

There's that nightmare again. For anyone who saw Ford's terrible fall, who watched Ford carried out on a stretcher, he is forever fragile. But this time, Ford quickly pops up, pumps his fist, and just like that, the nightmare passes.

"I know I could get hurt," Ford says. "But I can't play like I'm afraid of that. I have no more chance of getting hurt than anyone else."

The nearly two years between the '04 fall and Ford's return to the court have been difficult, for both Ford and the Bucks. Ford has a congenital condition--he learned about it in 2001--called spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the spine that pressures the spinal cord. He had surgery in May 2004, followed by monthly MRIs. Ford admits he worried he never would play again but tried to stay with the team anyway. The stress of not being able to play was too much, though, and the Bucks sent him home to Houston last January.

Meanwhile, the team struggled through what should have ...