The Milwaukee Bucks dropped their final game Wednesday night against the red-hot Boston Celtics 105-100 at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. But the real news, Coach Jason Kidd and his ball club cemented themselves at the sixth seed for good, and learned their first-round opponent in the playoffs: the No. 3 seed Chicago Bulls.
If the Bulls had lost to Atlanta Wednesday night, Milwaukee would have matched up with the Toronto Raptors in the opening round.
Either way, Coach Kidd’s main objective for the game in Boston was health. With the first game of the playoffs slated for Saturday, Coach Kidd wanted to manage his team with rest and health as the priority.
J-Kidd used his starters sparingly: Giannis Antetokounmpo played just 29 minutes, the most of any of the Bucks starters.
“No one got hurt, and now we can focus on one opponent and that’s Chicago,” Jason said. “We wanted the bench to get as much playing time as possible in tonight’s game, give our starters some work. They were going to play a little in that third (quarter), and that was it for them.”
The Bucks finished with a 41-41 record, an improvement of 26 games over the league-worst 15-67 record of the previous season.
Ersan Ilyasova led Milwaukee with 21 points, including 16 in the third quarter, while Khris Middleton added 18 points in 21 minutes.
For Boston it was Luigi Datome, a 6’8” Italian wingman, who made the difference in the season’s final game. Datome, who was averaging 4.2 points coming into Wednesday, was 9 of 15 from the field and 3-of-7 from 3-point range.
It was essentially a meaningless game for the Bucks and Celtics, who both had their playoff posts clinched, which meant both teams rested players and managed minutes in order to prepare for the playoffs. Milwaukee didn’t dress key reserves Jared Dudley and Jerryd Bayless, while Boston sat Avery Bradley with a quad injury and rested leading scorer Isaiah Thomas.
Down one after three quarters, Milwaukee’s starters sat the entire fourth quarter.
“We had no control over the other games so you just have to go out there and get better,” Coach Kidd said. “We felt we got better.”
The Bucks closed the game with Jorge Gutierrez, Tyler Ennis, O.J. Mayo, Johnny O’Bryant and Miles Plumlee, while the Celtics had the likes of Datome, Jonas Jerebko and James Young on the court.
NEXT UP
First-round action will start Saturday Chicago against the Bulls, where Milwaukee has been unsuccessful this year.
Chicago leads the season series 3-1 where the Bucks only victory came at home at the Bradley Center. While the playoffs always wipes the slate clean, Coach Kidd knows his Bucks have a challenge on their hands against Tom Thibodeau’s Bulls.
“Chicago is one of the best teams in this league,” Jason said. “They’re well coached. Thibs has them playing hard for 48 minutes. They’re experienced, they’ve been in the playoffs before. So we have our hands full.”
Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. CT Saturday from the Windy City’s United Center.
RELATED LINKS
- Coach Kidd postgame vs. Boston (Bucks.com, April 15, 2015)
- Bulls-Bucks Preview (ESPN, April 16, 2015)
- Bucks fall in finale, will start playoffs Saturday vs. Bulls (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, April 15, 2015)
- Bucks bow to Celtics in finale, brace for Bulls in playoffs (Fox Sports Wisconsin, April 15, 2015)
