Bucks look to finish strong
The Milwaukee Bucks have just five more regular-season games left, but they still have plenty of work to do.
The Bucks still have to clinch a playoff spot, with the Detroit Pistons (37-40) refusing to give up hope by winning five straight games.
Milwaukee (41-36) also is jockeying with the Miami Heat (41-36) and the Washington Wizards (42-35) at the bottom of the Eastern Conference playoff picture.
The Heat holds a tiebreaker over the Bucks.
Milwaukee, which plays Boston on Tuesday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center, also needs to bounce back after a wild, 128-125 loss in overtime to the Denver Nuggets on Sunday.
The Bucks led by as many as 18 points with 71⁄ minutes remaining but fell apart
2 down the stretch to finish 2-2 on their trip.
“That slipped away from us,” Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo said on Monday. “We just have to do a better job taking care of the ball late. Keep our composure, for sure.”
Antetokounmpo fouled out with 3 minutes, 43 seconds remaining against Denver.
He also picked up a technical foul arguing the charge call that was his sixth personal.
That started a litany of mistakes for the Bucks that included Khris Middleton throwing the ball away on an inbound play with 4.1 seconds left, leading to the Nuggets' Jamal Murray getting fouled on a three-pointer. He made all three free throws to send the game into overtime.
Bucks interim coach Joe Prunty went over the details of the fourth-quarter collapse with his team at practice on Monday.
“There were several things that I would say, from the 6-minute mark on down, where we could have increased the lead with a made basket or prevented the lead from shrinking with transition defense or not giving up a three,” Prunty said.
“We had several and-one possessions, where they drove the ball and we fouled them and gave up a layup. Or on the perimeter we just fouled them and just gave them opportunities to get to the line. So we have to be better there, showing our hands and not fouling, playing better 'D.'
“And then offensively, we had some pretty good looks at times. I thought what we need to do better is know time and score, in regards to when we start plays and finish plays. There were a lot of teaching points, those were just a few of them.”
The Bucks were outscored, 123-74, in the fourth quarters on their trip against the Nuggets, Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers.
"We got to learn how to close teams out," Bucks center John Henson said. "Every game on the road trip we were up double digits and we lost two of those games. So it's just a matter of time, clock management and not letting up and making the right plays down the stretch."
Prunty will be looking for better execution against the Celtics, who have won six straight and sit No. 2 in the Eastern Conference.
“We've played teams that have lost multiple games in a row and we've played teams that have won multiple games in a row,” Prunty said.
“I think a lot of it is about us, our approach for the 48 minutes of the game. This is a team we know is going to play hard all the time. They're not afraid to do different things on both ends of the floor.”
With the playoffs looming, Antetokounmpo knows his team has to learn from the late-game woes.
“We got to close as hard as we can and get as good a (playoff) spot as we can,” he said. “Hopefully we can be ready and get our mind-set ready for the playoffs.”