C's Bench Holds On for W

4/9/2008

C's Bench Holds On for W

MILWAUKEE - With the playoffs in mind, Doc Rivers tested his bench players down the stretch last night.

It was tough, and they needed extra time, but they passed.



With home court advantage clinched, the Celtics coach has said his main agenda the rest of the way is to get his bench ready for the playoffs. It looked good Saturday against Charlotte with Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen all sitting out. And last night, with the starters on the bench for good entering the fourth quarter, the Celtics held on for a 107-104 overtime win over the Bucks in front of 15,921 fans at the Bradley Center.

Garnett had 21 points on 7-of-8 shooting while Tony Allen added 17 points and Leon Powe 14 before fouling out. By the time the final buzzer sounded, six Boston reserves had played more minutes than the starters.

Rivers has been changing his mind the past two weeks on how to play his All-Star trio during the final stretch of the regular season.

He went from saying he wouldn't sit them to sidelining them all for the first time Saturday.

Following practice in Charlotte Monday, he said, at best, one of the three would play last night. During shootaround yesterday, however, Rivers said all three would play.

When asked who would play tonight at Washington, Rivers smiled and said it was on a game-to-game basis the rest of the way.

Either way, Garnett, Allen, and Pierce all seemed well-rested. Sam Cassell, though, didn't play because of back spasms.

Garnett scored 8 points as the Celtics took off to a 17-2 lead, but the Bucks came back to trim the deficit to 32-29 by the end of the first quarter. Garnett scored 13 points on 4-of-4 shooting from the field and nailed 5 of 6 free throws in the first.

The Celtics outscored Milwaukee, 28-16, in the second quarter to take a 60-45 halftime lead. Tony Allen had 8 points in the quarter, and Garnett continued his hot shooting. At halftime he had 19 points on 6-of-7 shooting and had made 7 of 8 from the line.

The Celtics opened the third quarter with a 14-4 run to take a 25-point lead, 74-59, following a 3-pointer by Pierce at 7:26. The Bucks called time and were given a chorus of boos as they went to the bench.

The Celtics completed the third quarter with an 80-66 lead and entered the fourth with all the starters resting comfortably on the bench. Two Dan Gadzuric free throws trimmed Milwaukee's deficit to 82-72, and a free throw by Bucks center Andrew Bogut eventually tied the game at 87.

Posey made a layup that seemed like traveling and got the foul with 3:13 remaining to give Boston a 92-87 lead. Angered Bucks coach Larry Krystkowiak was slapped with a technical for complaining. Eddie House made the technical to give the Celtics a 93-87 lead as the crowd booed. A lay-in by Powe gave Boston a comfortable 97-89 lead with 2:11 left.

Michael Redd's lay-in brought Milwaukee with 99-96 with 21.5 seconds left. Celtics forward James Posey, an 81.7 percent free throw shooter, missed two with 16.7 seconds left that could have sealed the game.

After pump-faking Tony Allen to get free, Redd nailed a 3-pointer with 10.5 seconds left to tie the game. House missed a 3-pointer with 2.8 seconds left that could have won it in regulation.

In overtime, the Bucks picked up their first lead of the game, 101-98, after a jumper by Desmond Mason with 3:31 left in OT. But Posey responded with a 3-pointer to give the Celtics a 102-101 lead with 3:06 remaining. After the Bucks and Celtics exchanged 3-pointers, Boston held a 105-104 lead.

Two Posey free throws gave the Celtics a 107-104 lead with 53 seconds left. The Bucks missed their last four field goal attempts.