NBA Playoffs : Bucks Would Like to Cry Foul After Losing to the Celtics, 126-124

Close was no consolation to the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Bucks nearly did what no team has done in almost five months--beat the Boston Celtics at Boston Garden--before going down to a 126-124 defeat Wednesday night and falling behind, 2-0, in their NBA second-round playoff series.

“A loss is a loss,” Milwaukee’s Sidney Moncrief said. “It doesn’t matter how close we play.”

Boston has won 33 straight games at the Garden since losing to the Lakers on Dec. 12. The Celtics tied a playoff record of 14 straight victories at home set by the Minneapolis Lakers from 1949 to 1951. It also was Boston’s ninth straight victory, the last five in the playoffs.

Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series is scheduled for Friday night in Milwaukee, where the Celtics were 0-3 during the regular season.

Larry Bird and Danny Ainge scored 30 points each, but the Celtics needed two free throws each by Dennis Johnson and Fred Roberts in the final 29 seconds to pull out the victory.

Milwaukee tied the score, 122-122, on Moncrief’s two foul shots with 43 seconds left. But Johnson drove the lane, was fouled by Jack Sikma and put Boston in front, 124-122, with 29 seconds left.

Paul Pressey tried to get the Bucks even, but three Celtics converged on him as he drove to the basket. He missed the shot with 14 seconds remaining, and Bird got the rebound.

“If I talk about it, I’ll just get myself in big, big trouble,” Milwaukee Coach Don Nelson said of the fact that no foul was called on Pressey’s drive.

“We were right in the game from the first minute to the last minute,” Nelson added. “We executed what we wanted to do and we did it well.”

The Bucks were forced to foul Roberts, who sank his two shots to make it 126-122 with six seconds left. Jack Sikma scored for the Bucks with three seconds left.

Terry Cummings scored 28 points for the Bucks, Ricky Pierce added 20 and Sikma had 19. Robert Parish had 24 points for the Celtics, and Johnson had 21.