MILWAUKEE – Despite shooting under 33 percent, the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the defending champion Boston Celtics 86-77 on Sunday afternoon at the Bradley Center.
Milwaukee forced the Celtics into 25 turnovers, which is the most that Boston has given up all season.
“I felt like it was one of our better defensive games,” Bucks coach Scott Skiles said after the game. “It’s not too often, if ever, you shoot a little over 30 percent and win the game. It’s not unusual to have a poor shooting night against them (Boston), so you just gotta try to grind it out, and we did a good job of that.”
The Bucks had a four point lead with under a minute remaining in the game. But on Milwaukee’s next possession, Boston’s Rajon Rondo came up with a near-steal that was deflected to Charlie Bell with one second remaining on the shot clock. Bell threw it up at the hoop and sank it, sealing the win for Milwaukee.
“That shot was kind of like a prayer,” Bell said after the game. “I knew the shot-clock was running down so I just turned and heaved it at the rim. Sometimes those are the best type of shots when you’re not thinking about it.”
Not only was Bell’s shot the game-clincher, it was also his first made basket all night. Up until that point, he had been held to 0-5 from the floor.
“Charlie Bell made a tremendous shot,” Charlie Villanueva said. Laughing, he added “I think that was his only one.”
Villanueva scored 11 of his team-high 19 points in the fourth quarter, despite fouling out with over four minutes to go.
Richard Jefferson chipped in with 17 points, and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute scored 15 points to go along with seven rebounds.
Keith Bogans came off the bench and tied his career-high with 12 rebounds.
“I thought Keith Bogans gave us a big lift again,” Skiles said. “He came in with that tough defense and rebounded better than most of our bigs tonight.”
The Bucks came into the game having lost five of its last six, and nine of its last twelve. The team had also fallen out of the Eastern Conference playoff picture following Chicago’s win last night. But the win over Boston has Milwaukee back in the eighth spot by the smallest margin possible. Chicago’s winning percentage is .448, with the Bucks now at .449.
Kendrick Perkins, who scored a career-high 26 points and also grabbed a career-high nine offensive rebounds, said “They (Milwaukee) played like they were desperate. Obviously they’re trying to make the playoffs, so they out-scrapped us in every way. Their defensive intensity was great.”
Boston was missing one of its three All-Stars, as Kevin Garnett missed his eleventh consecutive game with a muscle strain in his right knee.
The other two Celtics All-Stars, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, combined to shoot 6-26, only scoring 23 points.
“Defensively they were solid,” Allen said after the game. “But I think that we made it tough on ourselves. We had a lot of unforced turnovers. A lot of times we tried to make the home-run play instead of just making the simple pass.”
Starting in place of Garnett, Leon Powe picked up his fifth foul with 5:34 remaining in the third quarter. And before Coach Doc Rivers could bring in a sub, Powe picked up his sixth and had fouled out of the game.
Milwaukee is now 2-2 on its current season-long six-game home stand, and improved to 20-14 overall this season at home. The team has the next two days off before a Wednesday night match-up against the Southeast Division leading Orlando Magic.
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