MILWAUKEE -- The Milwaukee Bucks return to the Boston Garden for Game 5 of their playoff series against the Celtics, a place where the Bucks are winless in the last two seasons.
The Bucks took the Celtics through two overtimes Sunday before dropping a 138-137 decision. The Celtics now lead the best-of-seven series 3-1 as the series switches to Boston Wednesday night.
'All the cliches come out,' said Milwaukee reserve center Paul Mokeski. 'Our backs are against the wall, take one game at a time and just try to win in Boston. We've got to win three in a row from the Celtics which is no easy task.
But we've got no choice in the matter. The next game, if we lose, we're playing golf. I don't think anybody on this team wants to do that this early.'
Milwaukee victories on the parquet floor of the Boston Garden have been non-existent the last two seasons.
In addition to losing the first two games of the series at Boston, the Bucks dropped all three regular-season contests at the Garden. Milwaukee also lost all five games it played in Boston last season, including a pair of playoff losses when the Celtics swept the Eastern Conference final.
Mokeski, whose two free throws with four seconds left in the fourth quarter sent the game into overtime, said the Bucks have struggled in the series.
'It seems like you get over it for one game and then the next game you play it's back there looking you in the face,' he said. 'We played a good game. We executed and we did a lot of things right but not enough.'
Larry Bird, who led Celtics with 42 points, said the Bucks are going to have to do even more in Boston.
'They've got to beat us twice in the Garden and nobody's done that in a long time,' Bird said. 'And we're going to play better on Wednesday night than we did here. We always play better at home. So, if they're going to beat us, they're going to have to take their game up a notch.'
