Celtics get trampled by Bucks

MILWAUKEE -- What is it about this city that brings out the worst in the Celtics?

Last night they got absolutely bludgeoned, 121-97, in a game that wasn't as close as the score might indicate. The perpetrators of this massacre were the last-place, 18-win Milwaukee Bucks, who stopped a three-game Boston winning streak, dropped the Atlantic Division "leaders" a game below .500, and made them 0-1 in the Era Without Waltah.

Milwaukee shot 54 percent, dominated the glass, and used a 22-0 run in the second quarter to take a 78-46 lead at the half. The 78 points were the most surrendered in a half this year by the Celtics and the most scored by a Milwaukee team in a half since March 24, 1987. The Bucks were only 1 point shy of the franchise record for points in a half. They are 10-1 against the Celtics in the last 11 games at the Bradley Center.

The Celtics never recovered, and the final 24 minutes were a perfunctory exercise with both coaches emptying their benches. The Bucks got a career-high 28 points from Mike James, who knocked down eight 3-pointers, while Paul Pierce, selected earlier in the day as an All-Star, had just 7 points in 26 minutes, going 2 of 10 from the field.

"This was like a relapse," Pierce said. "It was just one of them days, that's how you've got to look at it. Things didn't go our way. We couldn't stop the bleeding. We cut our own selves in the throat. But we've got a chance to get it back [tonight]."

Agreed Gary Payton, a former Buck (for a couple of months) who was booed constantly, "We come back [tonight], play the Clippers, beat the Clippers, and we'll be 25-25, right back where we started. We're fine. We'll get this thing out of our minds."

Young Kendrick Perkins, meanwhile, was ejected for the second time in six games for a takedown of Desmond Mason late in the third quarter. Perkins, whose ejection Jan. 29 in Chicago served as a rallying cause in a comeback victory, was tossed after fouling Mason and then giving him a forearm to the head as the two tried to get untangled with 1:27 left in the period. A furious Mason had to be restrained by teammate Erick Strickland and others.

"It was a cheap shot," Mason said. "He just locked me up and threw me down. I guess he felt he had to act like a tough guy. We see them a couple of more times."

Perkins was given a Flagrant Foul/ Type 2, which is defined as a foul "with unnecessary and excessive contact" and calls for an automatic ejection. Perkins also is subject to a fine of as much as $35,000 and disciplinary action by the league. However, Celtics coach Doc Rivers said he thinks the foul will be reduced to a Flagrant 1 because much of the excessive contact came after the foul as the two were trying to get untangled.

"I thought it was a hard foul, a Flagrant 1," Rivers said. "The actions after the foul led to the incident and I think when they see that, they'll see that, too. They both lost their cool. Perk had him in a position where he threw him down."

Rivers later said of Perkins, "He's physical. And he cares. That's what I like about him. He's young and he's learning."

Playing without Walter McCarty, who was traded to Phoenix earlier in the day, the Celtics let this one get out of control over a six-minute stretch of the second quarter. The Bucks' 22-0 run made the outcome a fait accompli and allowed Rivers to give his starters plenty of rest for tonight's game. Justin Reed, activated earlier in the day, had 13 points in 15 garbage-time minutes, tying for team scoring honors. In his previous eight games, Reed had totaled 6 points.

There was little hint of the onslaught awaiting the Celtics when Mark Blount, wearing a headband in honor of the departed McCarty, hit two free throws with 7:05 left in the first half. The shots brought the Celtics within 51-42 in what to that point had been a mildly entertaining and competitive game. The Celtics actually enjoyed a 6-point lead in the first, thanks to Raef LaFrentz's long-distance shooting.

But after Blount's second free throw went through, the Celtics were absolutely bushwacked. The Bucks converted on 13 of 15 possessions while the Celtics missed nine straight shots. The Milwaukee lead ballooned from 9 to 31 after two free throws by Michael Redd (17 points) with 64 seconds left in the half.

"That run was a thing of beauty," Redd said.

The run made it 73-42. Four points by Ricky Davis made it 73-46, but then Mason scored on a drive and James (8 of 13 from international waters) intercepted a pass and coolly drained a trey just before the buzzer. That made it 78-46 at the break. The rest, save for the Perkins-Mason dustup, was uneventful. "We just played horrible. We stunk," said Rivers. "It happens, but it hasn't happened much. I thought we threw in the towel extremely early, and then it got worse."