Although the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics didn't have much to play for as they were both already locked in the playoffs, they were highly competitive and went to the wire in their finale Wednesday night.

Gigi Datome scored 22 points, Kelly Olynyk added 16 including 10 in the fourth, and the Boston Celtics finished the season with a 105-100 victory, their sixth straight win, Wednesday night over the Milwaukee Bucks.

Datome, who has averaged just a meager 4.2 points and started for the injured Avery Bradley, was 9 of 15 from the field and 3 of 7 from three-point range.

Ersan Ilyasova led the Bucks with 21 on 8 for 13 while Khris Middleton scored 18 on 8 of 10 shooting in 21 minutes.

The Bucks were unable to clinch their first winning record since going 46-36 in 2009-10 while the Celtics haven’t won six in a row since a seven-game run in 2013.

Health-wise, Bradley got hurt Tuesday night in a 95-93 win over Toronto, but coach Brad Stevens indicated that Bradley should be ready for the playoffs. Guard Isaiah Thomas also sat out for rest.

Bucks forward Jared Dudley was sidelined a second straight game to rest his back but is expected for the playoffs.

In the first, with the game tied at three, the Bucks seized control on a 16-8 run, including seven points from Middleton, but the Celtics converted three consecutive shots from downtown to get back in the game and trailed the Bucks, 25-22, at the end of the first. Marcus Smart and Tyler Zeller each had six points apiece while Middleton accumulated 13 points on a perfect 6 of 6 from the court.

Early in the second, Boston scored 14 points including two triples while holding Milwaukee to eight in the initial six minutes to take their first lead, 36-33. From then on, the Celtics edged out the Bucks 13-12 for the 49-45 halftime lead. Milwaukee out-boarded Boston, 26-22, but a big contributing factor was shots from beyond the arc as the Celtics hit seven threes on 14 attempts compared to just two on nine tries for the deer. Led by Zeller’s eight, 10 Celtics scored while nine scored for the home team with Middleton still at 13.

It went back and forth to begin the third as each team scored 13 apiece until Ilyasova scored seven of his quarter-high 16 to knot it up at 65. The game got tied again at 70, but Jonas Jerebko hit a three for a 73-72 lead at the period break.

Milwaukee nabbed the lead on a Miles Plumlee shot and was in front 78-77 until Olynyk scored a three to go back up, 80-78, and that was the closest the Bucks got the rest of the way. With 5:05 left, Datome nailed a three-point jumper to make it 96-87, and the Bucks responded with a 10-4 run to get within three points at 2:38. Unfortunately, the sure-handed Datome hit a clutch three and then a layup to put the game out of reach en route to a 105-100 victory.

Locked into the sixth spot in the East, Milwaukee will face the Chicago Bulls in the opening round, while the Celtics get LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. 

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About the author
Mike Tews
My name is Mike and I'm a journalism major from UW-Madison.