Celtics stifle Bucks

BOSTON (AP):

Ray Allen and the Boston Celtics take a lot of pride in their defence, so this one was a gem. For Milwaukee Bucks coach Scott Skiles, it was embarrassing.

Allen scored 17 points in just three quarters and the Celtics set a franchise record for fewest points allowed in the shot-clock era, routing the Bucks 87-56 on Sunday.

"I think playing defence perfectly is our goal," Allen said. "That's what we shoot for, but a team can still score while you're doing that."

Not this time.

It was the lowest score against the Celtics since they beat the Milwaukee Hawks 62-57 at Providence, Rhode Island, on February 27, 1955. The Bucks, who joined the NBA before the 1968-69 season, set a franchise record for fewest points.

"That's about as humiliating a defeat as you'll ever see," Skiles said. "They got us on our heels and took our competitive fight away from us. We pretty much just gave into it."

Milwaukee were coming off a 102-74 home win over Philadel-phia on Saturday. When the Bucks flew east to Boston, they lost an hour to the Eastern time zone and then another hour to daylight savings time. And when the 6 p.m. EDT start arrived on Sunday, they plodded their way to all of nine points in the first quarter.

"You could see they were tired," Boston coach Doc Rivers said. "So, we took advantage and that was great, but a lot of it had to do with their schedule."

The Celtics held the Bucks to just 38 points through three quarters - an NBA record, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. They clinched the new franchise low when Milwaukee's Keyon Dooling missed a pair of free throws with 22 seconds remaining.

Nenad Krstic had 11 points and 14 rebounds and Paul Pierce scored 14 for the Celtics, who rested their starters throughout the fourth quarter.

Earl Barron was the only player to score in double figures for the Bucks, finishing with 10 points. Andrew Bogut and Brandon Jennings led Milwaukee's starters with eight points apiece.