A word about the Bucks-Celtics game

I'm a couple days behind due to my upcoming move (as a side note, several Brewers live in my new building). But I did get to watch an exciting Bucks game on Saturday, although sadly, it ended in defeat.

The Bucks lost to the defending chamion Celtics 102-97 in overtime on Saturday. They started the game with both Redd and Charlie Villanueva on the bench and would end the game with Bogut in the locker room. Given these facts, the Bucks played a hell of a game. Or at least they played two good quarters, one bad quarter and an outstanding fourth-quarter in which they came back from a 12 point deficit to take the game to overtime. Bogut was ejected in the 4th quarter which forced the Bucks to play Dan Gadzuric against kevin Garnett. That and some bad shooting were enough to put an end to the Bucks late game run. A few notes:

• Michael Redd. In a lot of ways, the Bucks are better without Redd than they are with him. Lately they've been showing a lot of hustle and tough defense that would lose something with Redd on the court. It would have been great to have Redd come off the bench when we really needed points--nobody can argue that he's not a great scorer--but he could never be bench player on the Bucks.
• The Guards. Both Ramon Sessions and Luke Ridnour are playing great basketball right now. Against the Celtics, Ridnour took it to overtime with a lay-up. The day before, it was Sessions who tied the game with a 3-pointer to head to overtime against Memphis. On Saturday, Ridnour was 5/7 from the field and 3/4 from 3-point range.
• Bogut. Andrew Bogut has learned to score over the last few weeks. After starting the season cold, he's been tearing it up the last few games. He had 20 by the time he was ejected--5 points better than Kevin Garnett, who he also out-rebounded 9 to 7.
• The Refs. Bogut got punched in the face and was thrown out of the game for it. The puncher, Kevin Garnett, wasn't. I realize it was Bogut's second technical and only Garnett's first, and that I don't understand the rules of NBA basketball, but this call was bullshit. Also, there were a number of other bullshit calls, including some nonsense where sessions got fouled but had to take a jump ball instead of getting shots.
• The Kids. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute has been awesome. He started the season as an athletic, energetic bench guy with strong defense. Now he starts and he can score. He added 14 points to go with his 9 rebounds against the Celtics. Potsie [Joe Alexander] is coming along alright too. With Charlie V, Redd and Bogut unavailable, he saw some playing time and held his own for the most part.