Bucks decide not to show up, held to franchise low by Celtics

After losing two straight, the Boston Celtics came into last night's game vs. the Milwaukee Bucks at TD Garden in need of a win.

The fact that it turned out to be so one-sided and historical were some nice footnotes to a pathetic showing by the Bucks. The Celtics (47-17) won 87-56.

Milwaukee (26-39) was playing the second leg of a back-to-back on the road so a flight and losing an hour to daylight savings didn't help but come on? There are no excuses for dropping 22 points in the first half against a team that you played pretty hard against a week earlier.

The Bucks were held to a franchise-low point total and the Celtics also set a defensive mark for lowest points allowed in a game.

Oh well. Ray Allen led the hit parade with 17 points while Nenad Krstic continued to be a rebounding machine with 11 points and 14 rebounds. Paul Pierce added 14 points in a short night as the starters got to leave for good in the third quarter.

Jeff Green (11 points) and Troy Murphy (12 points, 7 rebounds) were the standouts off the bench along with Carlos Arroyo (6 assists).

With a back-to-back tonight, in Newark, things will no doubt be much harder for the Cs as they take on the Nets. New Jersey has won their last four games in a row and Deron Williams returns from a few games away (his wife had a baby) so he'll be raring to go. Don't be surprised if this one goes down to the wire. You've seen that script before.

KG will punch you in the balls then a month later beat you on the scoreboard

I guess I've been hanging with Charlie Sheen too much lately (WINNING!) since I somehow forgot in my last Celtics blog post that the Suns had beaten them three out of the last four times they had played.

Oh well, last night was the same old Phoenix Suns that I remember as the Boston Celtics rolled them 115-103 in a chippy, weird game at the TD Garden.

It was Troy Murphy's debut for the Celts (44-15) but he only put up one point and two rebounds. Fear not though, Sasha Pavlovic is on the way!

Boston led by as many as 29 points in the third quarter before Phoenix (31-28) cut it to as few as eight points but that was as close as their bench could get them.

From their last meeting in late January (a Suns blowout), Kevin Garnett had some unsettled beef with Channing Frye. Don't ask me why since KG was the one that punched him in the balls and got tossed from that game. He might be old but if you get Garnett riled up like that and you're a marginal player, look out. He put up a game-high 28 points and eight rebounds, shooting 12 of 14 with three assists and two blocks.

Ray Allen had 19 points, Rajon Rondo put up 16 points and 15 assists with five rebounds and three steals. Paul Pierce scored 16 points with 13 rebounds and Nenad Krstic had 13 points as continues to prove his worth offensively.

Glen Davis had 14 points and eight rebounds off the bench but he left the game with a minute left after coming down awkwardly on his left knee following a dunk. Boston can't afford another injury, especially to their best bench player.

The Suns' starters were awful as only Grant Hill and Vince Carter scored in double figures (both had 11 points). Phoenix's performance can be summed up by Carter and Frye knocking heads in the third quarter (down 29) and both being out for the rest of the game. What a mess.

Phoenix's bench looked great and it makes you wonder why Suns coach Alvin Gentry doesn't play some of these young guys more. Aaron Brooks scored 17 points with seven assists, former BC star Jared Dudley put up 15 points while Marcin Gortat had 13 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks. Why in the world does Robin Lopez (6 points, 4 rebounds) start over Gortat? Mickael Pietrus added 11 points.

It'll be another track meet tomorrow night as the Celtics host the Golden State Warriors. Boston tore apart Golden State last week on their West Coast trip and it promises to be more of the same tomorrow night at home where they play particularly well.