How we see it goin’ down: Celtics at Bucks

Tip: 8:00 PM    Court: Bradley Center   Watch it: CSN, NBA TV  Hear it: WEEI

                           Referees:  Dick Bavetta, Curtis Blair and Tony Brown

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The Matchup

Record: 24-21 (2nd Atlantic, 7th East)	Record: 21-24 (3rd Central, 9th East)
On the road: 8-13	At Home: 10-15
Streak: Won 1	Streak: Won 6
Leaders	Leaders
Buckets: Pierce (18.3 ppg)	Buckets: Brandon Jennings (18.8 ppg)
Boards: Garnett (8.2 rpg)	Boards: Ersan Ilyasova (8.6 rpg)
Dimes: Rondo (10.2 apg)	Dimes: Monta Ellis (6.5 apg)
For the Stat Geeks:	For the Stat Geeks:
Offensive Rating: 100.4 (27th NBA)	Offensive Rating: 105.5 (9th NBA)
Defensive Rating: 99.8 (3rd NBA)	Defensive Rating: 106.0 (21st NBA)
Pace: 90.1 (21st NBA)	Pace: 92.7 (7th NBA)

Last time

Led by a Rajon Rondo triple-double, the Celtics beat Milwaukee 102-96 in Boston on Feb. 29. A 13-0 Bucks run over the final 2 minutes made this game a lot closer than it needed to be. The Celtics have won 3 straight in Milwaukee.

This time

Get it to: Rajon Rondo

Let's hope Rondo repeats his performance from the previous game vs Milwaukee: 15 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. (Watch Rondo highlights) To quote my analysis in the game recap: "Rondo played a fabulous game. He was aggressive on offense, attacking the basket without dominating the basketball." The Bucks bring more firepower into this game as Monta Ellis has replaced Shaun Livingston in the starting line-up. Whether it's Jennings or Ellis, Rondo needs to keep his man on the perimeter.

Gotta stop: Ersan Ilyasova

Ilyasova dropped 25 points and 10 rebounds against the Celtics in February and that was when they had Chris Wilcox. I'm scared sh*t to think what he'll do against as even thinner Cs front court. On the bright side, Ilyasova is coming off an illness that limited him to 23 minutes the past two games.

The Wild Card: Mike Dunleavy

John instant messaged me this tidbit this morning: "Mike Dunleavy is averaging 19.8 points and 4.7 assists off the bench over his last six games (all Bucks wins) while shooting 44-for-74 (.595) from the field and 15-for-31 (.483) from behind the arc. Mike f'ing Dunleavy?" 

How we see it goin' down

The Bucks have won 6 straight, although their opponents (NYK, TOR, NJ, CLE, GSW, POR) are far from the league's elite. The streak has pushed Milwaukee to within one game of the 8th playoff spot. Expect a high-energy peformance from Monta Ellis, who is playing his first game in Milwaukee since being traded from Golden State. 

The Celtics are coming off two days of rest in this monster 8 game road trip. I want to say they'll come out energized and focused, but this team is impossible to predict. 

Celtics 91 – Bucks 90