Beantown Beatdown: Celtics Streak Ends

In the words of broadcaster Sam Rosen, “The waiting is over.” The TD Banknorth Garden faithful witnessed their hometown Celtics defeating the Milwaukee Bucks 117-97, snapping an eighteen game losing streak that created rumors of Head Coach Doc Rivers and General Manager Danny Ainge being fired, the team tanking the season to try and win the Greg Oden sweepstakes, and, bizarrely, trading their pick without even knowing where in the lottery it would be.

GF Paul Pierce returned to the lineup with a vengeance, leading the team with 32 points in 36 minutes of play. GF Gerald Green, an entrant in the dunk contest at this weekend’s All Star Game, added 21 points, way above his season average of 9.1. FC Al Jefferson chipped in with a double double, scoring 17 with 10 rebounds. The Celtics improve to 13-38 and look to make it two in a row when they go into Sacramento to take on the Kings after the break.

Bucks GF Michael Redd missed his nineteenth consecutive game with a left knee sprain, with the team going 3-16 in his absence. F Charlie Villanueva missed the game due to coach’s decision. PG Mo Williams had a huge game in the loss, scoring 31 points. Another bright spot for Milwaukee was GF Charlie Bell, who scored 24 points. The Bucks (19-34) look to right the ship, hopefully with both Redd and Villanueva in the lineup, after the break against the Detroit Pistons.