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Sunday, Mar. 26 4:00pm ET
Bucks, Celtics trail Magic for 8th spot | |||||
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 GAME FLOW
MILWAUKEE (AP) -- If the Milwaukee Bucks are going to make the playoffs, they'll need Ray Allen to keep hitting his shots. Allen scored 27 points, 17 in the first half, on 12-of-20 shooting, leading the Bucks to a 99-84 victory over the Boston Celtics on Sunday. Allen had been in a horrible slump a week ago, shooting 19 percent in losses to New Jersey and Minnesota. Three games later, his touch is back. He went 11-for-20 from the field in a win at Indiana last Thursday. A day later, he connected on 15-of-20 and matched his season-high with 36 points against Miami. Allen's strong showing against the Celtics gives him a 63.3 shooting percentage over the three-game stretch. "He's really asserted himself since the two games he shot so bad," Bucks coach George Karl said. Allen's third 3-pointer of the first half gave Milwaukee a 49-33 lead. Bucks guard Sam Cassell, who had 22 points, hit a layup to make it 53-40 at the break. "We came out real flat in the first half," said Antoine Walker, who scored 22 points for the Celtics, six in the first half. "We got ourselves down and when we tried to turn it up by that time, they had gotten their confidence in the second half." Milwaukee had lost 16 of 22 games before Sunday, but played a strong defensive game and won the three-game season series against Boston. That gives the Bucks the edge should the two teams finish tied for the final playoff spot in the East. Milwaukee remained 1½ games behind Orlando for that berth, and Boston is another 3 games back. "I think my team is playing good basketball," Karl said. "We just haven't finished some games." Boston shot 30-for-74 from the field (40.5 percent). Eric Williams scored 14 points and Danny Fortson had a season-high 17 rebounds for Boston, which never led and lost its fourth straight game. Glenn Robinson (17 points) hit a jumper to cap a 12-1 run midway through the third quarter as the Bucks built their biggest lead, 73-54. The Bucks couldn't put Boston away, though, as Dana Barros hit two jumpers and the Celtics closed the quarter on a 9-1 run. With Milwaukee leading 74-63, Allen scored the Bucks' first six points of the fourth on a dunk, an open 15-foot jumper and a layup. Cassell hit three jumpers in a row before Tim Thomas broke free for a dunk and then Cassell hit another jumper that helped kept Milwaukee's lead above 12 points the rest of the way. "We didn't get it done in transition defense," Walker said. "We gave them too many easy baskets." Game notesVitaly Potapenko was called for a flagrant foul early in the third when he blocked Darvin Ham's dunk attempt. ... Allen had all three of the Bucks' steals in the first quarter. ... Ham had three blocked shots and one steal in his ninth start for Milwaukee. ... The Celtics are 8-28 on the road. ... Each team has 12 games left. Only two of the Bucks' opponents have a winning record, while the Celtics have to face six clubs with a .500 or better winning percentage. | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Boston Clubhouse Milwaukee Clubhouse RECAPS Orlando 94 Miami 69
Milwaukee 99
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