How we see it goin’ down: Celtics vs. Bucks

Tip: 8:00 PM    Court: TD Garden   Watch it: CSN, NBALP Hear it: WEEI

         Referees:  Scott Foster, Matt Boland and James Williams

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The Matchup

Record: 38-27 (1st Atlantic, 4th East)	Record: 31-33 (3rd Central, 9th East)
At home: 23-9	On road: 14-18
Streak: Won 1	Streak: Won 2
Leaders	Leaders
Buckets: Pierce (19.5 ppg)	Buckets: Brandon Jennings (19.2 ppg)
Boards: Garnett (8.3 rpg)	Boards: Ersan Ilyasova (8.8 rpg)
Dimes: Rondo (11.6 apg)	Dimes: Jennings (5.6 apg)
For the Stat Geeks:	For the Stat Geeks:
Offensive Rating: 99.1 (24th NBA)	Offensive Rating: 103.1 (11th NBA)
Defensive Rating: 95.8 (2nd NBA)	Defensive Rating: 102.9 (18th NBA)
Pace: 92.5 (22nd NBA)	Pace: 96.3 (3rd NBA)

Last time

While playing their 7th game on an 8 game road trip, the Celtics snuffed the Bucks 6-game winning streak on March 22, 100-91. Paul Pierce lead all scorers with 25 points. The Celtics lead the season series 2-0.

This time

Get it to: The Young Guys

It should be assumed that the majority of the Big Four will get the night off, or see limited minutes to rest for the postseason, but that is not why the young guys are important tonight. With the postseason looming, it is important for the young guys (Bradley, JJJ, Bass, E'Twaun) going and in a nice groove heading into the postseason. The postseason is an intimidating animal for a young player and it will help them ease into things if they are playing well as the postseason kicks off. A more confident Bass and Bradley will only help the Celtics as they try to make one last push.

Gotta stop: Brandon Jennings

While this game matters little to both teams, it is still important to make a statement and shutting down your opponents best player is the best statement that can be made in a meaningless game. Rondo has always held the edge when squared off with the Bucks young guard. Jennings however is a lightning rod on offense and can score from almost anywhere on the floor once he's in a groove.

The Wild Card: Ersan Ilyasova

Ilyasova is a real pest. A poor mans Varejao in a way, he can get nasty in the paint, and do the dirty work when needed. He doesn't get much recognition and its usually those kind of guys that are a thorn in the Celtics side (see: Noah, Frye, Varejao).

How we see it goin' down

I see the Celtics rolling over in this one, they'd prefer to enter the postseason healthy rather than fight tooth and nail with a young athletic team with the playoffs on their doorstep. The Bucks have nothing to lose and want to go out with a bang, the Celtics have everything to lose. Monta Ellis will run circles around the Celtics backups.

MIL 95 BOS 82