Even Without Ray Celts Find A Way Hunt Down Bucks 104-82

Paul Pierce thrilled the crowd at the “New Garden” in Boston Friday, as he scored a season high 32 points, and Boston took a close game in the first half, and made it a runaway beating the Milwaukee Bucks 104-82. The win at home tied a franchise record as they have started the campaign 12-0, which they also did to start the 1984-1985 season. Boston went to the NBA Finals that year but lost to the?Los Angeles Lakers. Boston played without shooting guard Ray Allen who has a sore right ankle. He will miss a game or two, with the injury, reportedly the ankle has hampered him in his eight previous starts. However, the other Allen, Tony Allen did a nice job filling in scoring 11 points, 4 steals, 3 rebounds, 2 assists.

Milwaukee hung and played tough with Boston during the first half, as the Celtics led 25-21, at the end of the first quarter, and had a slim 46-44 lead as the teams went into their respective locker rooms. Boston came out smoking in the third quarter, while the Bucks looked out of sync, Celtics lead had grown to 78-61 by the end of the period. Milwaukee was never a factor in the fourth quarter as Boston held on for the easy victory.

Pierce shot 9-22 from the floor, 5-11 from outside the arc, and shot a perfect 9-9 from the line along with 3 rebounds 1 assist. Rajon Rondo picked his game up big time without Allen playing scoring 17 points, 8 assists, 4 rebounds, 1 steal. The “Big Ticket” Kevin Garnett currently leading vote getter in the forward category for the NBA All-Star Game, had 15 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals.

Milwaukee was led by guard Mo Williams who shot 6-9 from the floor, 2-3 treys, for a team high 14 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals. Bobby Simmons scored 11 points coming off the bench, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and rookie Yi Jianlian scored 10 points, 5 boards, 2 assists, in the loss. Boston has a?league best record of 19-2, while the Bucks are now 9-13.