(Sports Network) - Boston Celtics multi-talented point guard Rajon Rondo will
serve the second of a two-game suspension when his team pays a visit to the
Milwaukee Bucks Saturday night.
The Celtics didn't miss their tempestuous point guard in Friday's 96-78
victory over the Portland Trail Blazers, as Jason Terry picked up the slack
with 17 points and Paul Pierce scored 12 in a winning cause.
Rondo was serving the first of a two-game suspension for fighting with
Brooklyn's Kris Humphries in Wednesday's 95-83 home loss to the Nets. He will
be eligible to return for Wednesday's home game versus Minnesota.
It didn't seem to bother Boston, which has won three of four games since
losing three of four.
"It shows good character for our team," said Boston's Courtney Lee, who
tallied 10 points and five assists while starting in Rondo's place. "We got
beat bad on our own court (on Wednesday) then we went to practice, had a real
tough practice. Doc (Rivers) was on us the whole time, so we wanted to come in
and protect home court, because we can't keep letting teams come in and beat
us on our home court."
Jeff Green had a season-high 19 points off the bench. Kevin Garnett moved into
18th place on the all-time games played list (1,271), passing Celtics legend
John Havlicek. Terry Porter is next with 1,274 games played.
Milwaukee has dropped two straight and five of six games, and suffered a 95-85
loss Friday night against the Timberwolves.
Larry Sanders posted his first career triple-double with 10 points, 12
rebounds and 10 blocked shots for the Bucks, who were outrebounded 56-47 and
made only 36.6 percent of their shots. Sanders tied a franchise records for
blocks in a game as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar registered 10 blocks against the
Detroit Pistons on Nov. 3, 1973.
"We had issues on the defensive end," Bucks coach Scott Skiles said. "We fell
behind, bounced back again but didn't have enough."
Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis scored 18 points apiece in defeat.
The Bucks are in the top 10 for field goal percentage at 45.3 and rank near
the middle with 98.4 ppg. They are 3-4 as the host and have lost two in a row
at the Bradley Center.
Milwaukee and Boston have split a pair of meetings already this season, with
each team winning on the road. The Celtics have won seven of eight and 15 of
the last 19 matchups in this series.
Boston is unbeaten in its last four visits to Brew City.
The Sports Network