NBA PLAYOFFS : Bucks Have the Tie and the Lead, Then Fall to Celtics Again, 111-107

By now, the Milwaukee Bucks have to be wondering what it will take to beat the Boston Celtics, almost as much as the Celtics were wondering Saturday why Buck Coach Don Nelson was wearing in public a tie with a print of a largemouth fish on it.

In Game 3 of the NBA’s Eastern Conference final series, before 11,052 at the MECCA Arena, the Bucks seemingly played as well as they can for more than three quarters. But the Celtics, refusing to take a day off, even on what for them was an off day, won the fourth quarter and, as a result, the game, 111-107.

Boston, which has lost only one of 11 playoff games this spring, has an opportunity to finish off the Bucks as soon as today. But if Game 4 resembles Game 3, the Celtics may have to put up not only with another look at Nelson’s tie, decorated with a print of the Wisconsin state fish, a muskie, but also with an inspired effort that had the Bucks in the lead for more than 41 minutes.

Boston forward Kevin McHale, perhaps inspired by Nelson’s tie, used an analogy to explain why it takes fine play for all 48 minutes to beat the Celtics.

“We were like a fish,” McHale said. “They had us hooked, reeled in and beached. But then we flopped around so much, we turned over the boat and were back in the water.”

For the first time in this series, the Bucks made the Celtics squirm. Milwaukee had a 60-53 halftime lead and extended it to 71-62 midway in the third quarter before it was methodically eroded as the Celtics took control.

The Celtics led for 94 of the series’ first 96 minutes coming into Game 3, but they didn’t get the lead Saturday until Larry Bird’s jump shot made it 94-92 with 7:47 left in the game. Milwaukee stayed close until the Celtics went on a 9-0 run that gave them a 107-97 lead with 2:13 left.

The last five points of that Celtic surge unraveled the Bucks, who had been putting the pressure on Boston for three quarters. With the Celtics ahead by five points, Boston’s Danny Ainge stole the ball from Paul Pressey and fed Dennis Johnson for a breakaway layup. After a Buck miss, Bird was perched on the right side and made a three-point shot to put away the Bucks.

Even though this was by far the Bucks’ best effort in the series, Nelson seemed even more discouraged, because the effort was not enough to get past the Celtics.

“We gave it our best shot,” Nelson said. “We played this game like it was the seventh game. I don’t know if we can play any better than we played for most of the game. Then, like Boston usually does, they turned it on down the stretch and hurt us everywhere, inside and outside.”

This time, it definitely was inside more than outside. The intricate and precision passing among the Celtic big men was often on display Saturday.

“They put on a passing clinic,” Nelson said.

Midway through the second quarter, Bird had the ball in the low post with his back to the basket and, somehow, saw center Robert Parish open under the basket. Turning only slightly, Bird flung the ball over his head to Parish for an easy basket.

Bird was on the receiving end of another inside exchange that befuddled Buck defenders in the third quarter. This time, Bill Walton had the ball in the low post and Bird cut to the basket along the baseline. Just as Bird passed him, Walton flipped the ball over his left shoulder. Bird banked in a shot.

The Celtics had to do it like that a lot inside, since they were shooting poorly from the perimeter. Overall, Boston shot 46.1%, but Johnson and Ainge combined to make only 6 of 23 shots.

McHale (29 points) and Parish (28) each made 12 of 21 shots without straying more than seven feet away from the basket. But it wasn’t until the fourth quarter that they dominated Buck centers Randy Breuer and Alton Lister. Parish had 10 points and McHale six in the quarter.

Despite taking only 15 shots, Bird was the dominant Celtic. He scored 19 points, grabbed 16 rebounds and had 13 assists. All that came despite intense defensive pressure from Sidney Moncrief and Pressey, who double-teammed Bird whenever he had the ball close to the basket.

That strategy limited Bird’s scoring but enabled him to find open teammates. Had the Celtics not shot so poorly, the Bucks probably would have been silenced a lot earlier.

“Larry just had a phenomenal passing game,” McHale said. “If this had been L.A., he would have had 25 assists, the way they keep it out there.”

As a team, Celtic players were credited with assists on 30 of the 41 baskets they made. And the Celtics needed every basket they could muster to turn back the Bucks, who, as Nelson said, treated the contest as if it were Game 7.

Moncrief, playing in consecutive games for the first time since he suffered the injury to his left foot in mid April, played 44 minutes and contributed 24 points and 6 assists. He had a spectacular first quarter, scoring 19 points and causing the Celtics all kinds of problems.

But as the soreness in Moncrief’s left foot worsened, so did his play. He made just 1 of 10 shots in the second half and sat out part of the fourth quarter with a sprained right ankle. But he came back to finish the game, limping on both feet.

Terry Cummings’ overall play was totally healthy, for the first time in the series. Cummings scored 27 points (12 of 25 shots) and had 18 rebounds, leading the Bucks in both categories. The 7-foot Lister came off the bench had had 19 points and 14 rebounds, while Pressey added 18 points and 9 assists.

“For about 36 minutes, we played hard, executed well and played our game,” Moncrief said. “The last 12 minutes, we didn’t play our game. They played their game.”

There is little question about whether Moncrief will play today. He said his injured foot is “a dead issue.” By tonight, so might be the entire series.

Playoff Notes

Boston forward Scott Wedman suffered two broken ribs in the third quarter when he was kneed by the Bucks’ Terry Cummings. Wedman will be out for a minimum of 10 days. . . . Milwaukee forward Kenny Fields missed Saturday’s game with a sore left heel, a similar injury to Sidney Moncrief’s. Fields said it has bothered him for a month. . . . Saturday was “Don Nelson Day” in Wisconsin. Nelson was given a proclamation by the governor. Hence, the state fish on Nelson’s tie.