Antonio Davis was a reluctant cheerleader last night.

"I might have to resort to some pompons," the Raptors forward said before his team took on the Milwaukee Bucks at the Bradley Center. "It's a hostile crowd. You have to be ready."

While Davis was not actually holding any pompons once the game got under way, he was wearing a nice suit. Davis' left knee has been sore for about a week, but he had not missed a game until it was decided yesterday morning to keep him on the sidelines last night.

"It's just not responding (to treatment)," Davis said. "We've tried our best to get the swelling down the past few days and it's not as swollen as it was. But I probably shouldn't have tried to be an iron man on Sunday (when the Raptors took on the Boston Celtics). I tried to play on it and wound up irritating something in it.

"Instead of me going out there (last night) and not being able to give what I need to give in order to be successful, I thought maybe it was best to turn into a cheerleader for one night."