The Celtics ran their winning streak to 8 with tonight's 98-89 win over the Bucks. The Celts pulled away late in the 4th quarter (12-3 run to close the game) thanks to some great play by Rajon Rondo and clutch baskets by Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen.
The Bucks - mainly Andrew Bogut - played the Cs extremely tough. Bogut dominated Kendrick Perkins with an array of lefty hooks and various low-post moves. He finished with 25 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists. Milwaukee outrebounded the Celtics 44-to-35, including 14 offensive boards.
Rondo (11 points, 13 assists, 9 rebounds, 5 steals, 5-7 FTs) carried the play in the 4th. The game was tied at 86 with 5 minutes left. Here are the sequence of plays that lead to a 10-2 run over a 4 minute span.
- Rondo makes two free throws
- Rondo dishes to Perk, he gets fouled makes 1-of-2 FTs
- Rondo makes 19-foot jumper
- Rondo dishes to KG, he makes 6-foot jumper
- Rondo dishes to Ray, he nails 25-foot three pointer
Kevin Garnett finished with 25 points (9-13 FG), 9 rebounds.
Rasheed Wallace (13 points, 3-4 3FG) was the only effective bench player. Tony Allen had 0 points, 2 turnovers in 5 minutes.
Brandon Jennings (17 points, 7-19 FG) had a decent game. To be honest, I expected a lot more.
"We can get away with winning now, but we're not going to win in the long term if we don't start rebounding." - Doc Rivers