NBA Game Summary - Milwaukee at Boston

Boston, MA (Basketball News) - Michael Redd and Maurice Williams each scored 24 points to lead Milwaukee to a 100-96 victory over Boston at TD Banknorth Garden.

Williams added nine rebounds while T.J. Ford compiled 18 points and seven assists to help the Bucks to their seventh triumph in nine games. Milwaukee also won for the fourth straight time away from home and matched its entire road win total from last season. The Bucks, who went 7-34 on the road in 2004-05, improved to 7-4 as the visitor thus far.

Paul Pierce just missed a triple double for the Celtics, racking up 23 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds, and Boston rallied from a 17-point third-quarter deficit to tie the game early in the fourth. However, Milwaukee withstood the surge down the stretch and dealt the Celtics their third setback in four outings.

The teams were knotted at 77-77 with 10 1/2 minutes to play, but a Williams jumper followed by consecutive buckets from Ford gave the Bucks a six-point lead. Milwaukee would later regain a double-digit advantage when Jamaal Magliore’s dunk with 6:15 remaining pushed the margin to 92-82.

The Celtics pulled within 97-94 on a Marcus Banks three-pointer with 22 seconds left, but Ford made two foul shots on the other end before Pierce came up empty on a long-distance attempt as the clock ran down.

Boston held a 28-24 lead early in the second quarter, but shot a woeful 2- of-20 from the field during that period and the Bucks took advantage.

Milwaukee then outscored the Celtics 22-2 over the next seven minutes, with Williams netting 12 points during the run. His three-pointer with 4:31 remaining before intermission gave the Bucks a commanding 43-30 advantage, and Redd followed with a triple of his own shortly afterward to extend the margin to 16 points.

Boston closed the gap with an 8-0 spurt late in the half, but Dan Gadzuric knocked down a jumper in the final seconds to put Milwaukee up 50-37 at the break.

The Celtics shot just 22.5 percent (9-for-40) for the first 24 minutes.

The Bucks were still up comfortably through most of the third quarter and owned a 71-52 lead after a three-point play from Andrew Bogut with 4:11 remaining in the frame.

Boston trailed by 13 heading into the final minute of the third, but reeled off eight straight points to get back into it. Ricky Davis was fouled after converting a layup with five seconds left and hit the ensuing free throw to bring the hosts within 75-67. Banks then stole the inbounds pass and got the ball to Raef LaFrentz, who swished home a three-pointer at the buzzer to cut the deficit to five.

Davis then started the fourth quarter with another three-point play, sparking a 7-2 spurt ending with Al Jefferson’s layup that tied the contest at 77-77 with 10:48 left to play.

Boston built an early 10-point cushion after Mark Blount capped a 9-2 run with a layup that made the score 22-12 with 4:09 to go in the opening period. However, the Bucks closed out the quarter with seven straight points and drew within 28-26 at its conclusion on a layup and free throw from Redd.