Celtics at Bucks
The Boston Celtics will look to take advantage of a reeling opponent as they head to Milwaukee on Saturday to open up a home-and-home series against the reeling Bucks. Boston has rolled off three out of four after a six-game losing streak, including a 103-86 decision over Cleveland at home on Friday. The Celtics should be building some confidence after the recent run and the 17-point margin of victory in their latest outing, their largest of the season, may provide an added boost.
Milwaukee has lost 11 in a row and is creeping ever closer to the franchise record of 15 consecutive losses, set in March of 1996. The Bucks fell victim in a road tilt at Charlotte on Friday night, losing 92-76 to drop to 1-7 on the road. Coach Larry Drew has reached the point of experimentation, hoping something will click for his floundering squad, switching to a zone defense and tinkering with multiple lineup combinations of late.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, CSN New England (Boston)
ABOUT THE CELTICS (7-11): Jeff Green, who leads Boston in scoring, averaging 16.6 points, piled up a season-high 31 on Friday. Jordan Crawford, whose 5.2 assists per game are a team best, is coming off his third career triple-double, totaling 11 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists against the Bobcats. The Celtics' seven wins are the most of any team in the Atlantic Division, but they trail Toronto by a half-game.
ABOUT THE BUCKS (2-13): Milwaukee, which has battled a slew of injuries all season, was without its best asset off the bench against Charlotte, as forward Caron Butler was forced to sit out after experiencing swelling in his left knee during warmups. Leading scorer O.J. Mayo, who averaged 15.3 points coming in, had just five points on 2-of-11 shooting against the Bobcats. The Bucks beat the Celtics in Boston on Nov. 1 for one of their only two wins on the season.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Boston and Milwaukee each enter play ranked in the bottom third of the league in scoring.
2. The Bucks have won four of their last five meetings with the Celtics.
3. Milwaukee has averaged just over 86 points per game during its losing streak, topping 100 only once and needing overtime to achieve that in a 115-107 loss at Philadelphia Nov. 22.