Sloppy Celtics Fall to Lowly Bucks

By KC Downey in Celtics, Featured, Top Story ⋅ March 16, 2009 at 5:49am ⋅ Post a comment

Usually when an NBA team shoots 32.6% from the field and scores just 86 points, they tend to lose. In fact, I’m willing to bet that 90% of teams with those stats end up losing a game. Sunday in Milwaukee, however, was a different story, as the Bucks were less bad than the Celtics in an 86-77 win.

The Celtics killed themselves with a season-high 25 turnovers (a common problem with this team) and poor shooting performances by Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Rajon Rondo. Kendrick Perkins (9-16, 26 points, 12 rebounds) was the lone bright spot for the Celtics, who fell to 3.5 games back of the Cavs for the top record in the Eastern Conference.

Paul Pierce shot just 4-15 from the field and finished with 15 points, 11 rebounds, and seven turnovers. Hey, at least he was close to a triple-double!

Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo didn’t fare much better, however. Allen finished just 2-11 from the field and 0-5 from beyond the arc with eight points, while Rondo scored just five points (2-10 from the field) with seven rebounds and eight assists.

Charlie Villanueva scored 11 of his team-high 19 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Bucks in the victory.

The Celtics, in desperate need of an easy win, face the Bulls Tuesday in their annual St. Patrick’s Day game.