Rajon Rondo’s triple-double leads Boston Celtics to a 102-96 win over Milwaukee Bucks - NBA Recap
On Wednesday night at the TD Garden, Boston Celtics held their nerves to carve out a 102-96 win over Milwaukee Bucks.
The main highlight of the game was Rajon Rondo’s triple-double. The point guard, who is rumoured to be under the trade radar and failed to score even a single point in the last game, recorded his 3rd triple double of
season with 15 points, 10 assists along with 11 rebounds.
Celtics were also led by a double-double from Kevin Garnett. The veteran power forward had 25 points and 10 boards; Brandon Bass chipped in with 16 points; Ray Allen had 15 while Paul Pierce recorded 10 points in the 17th
victory of the season for the C’s, who have crossed the 0.500 mark just two games after the All-Star break. The win certainly pleased Doc Rivers, the Green’s coach;
"I'm just glad we're back to .500. And we've won the first two after the break and both games were grind games. Our guys are buying into that."
Boston started the game with a 10-3 run, but the Bucks replied swiftly with a 10-4 spurt of their own bringing the scores at 14-13. The teams slugged it out in the remaining quarter, which ended at 25 all.
Reserve big, Larry Sanders got the Bucks going in the second frame by scoring the 1st 4 points, including a tip in and a layup. His efforts set the tone for Milwaukee, who stretched their lead to as many as 9 points,
54-45, deep in the half, before Rondo and Dooling combined for five consecutive points to make it 50-54 at the break.
Boston defence finally came good in the 3rd quarter. They choked the life out of the Bucks offense, hammering them with a 25-6 run, which completely turned the game on its head. By the time, the third quarter ended,
the Celtics had drawn out a double digit lead, 77-67. Boston maintained the tempo into the 4th stanza and pulled off a 13-6 run early, taking their lead to 90-73.
Bucks tried to reduce the gap with 6 unanswered points midway through the quarter, 90-79, but C’s outscored them 8-4 run in the following passage that pushed their lead further to 98-83. Milwaukee however had still some fight left
in them and they retaliated with 13 unanswered points, clawing off the deficit to 2 points 98-96.
Staring at a meltdown, Doc Rivers took a time out with 19 clicks left, and on their return, Garnett hit 2 free throws to open some breathing space. With only 2 seconds in the game, he was again fouled by Dunleavy and netted the
last conclusive pair from charity line.
This was the 21st loss of the season for the Bucks, who have lost seven of their last ten. Ersan Ilyasova netted 25 and had 10 rebounds while Drew Gooden scored 23 along with 8 boards for the Bucks, who also got 10 points
from Mike Dunleavy. Brandon Jennings continued his dismal run and finished with only 6 points on a 2-of-11 shooting on the night.
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