Final: Bucks 99, Celtics 94

Rajon Rondo didn't do too much to help Paul Pierce on this night.

It wasn't the apocalypse, but it was wildly entertaining. In what ended up being a crazy game, the Celtics fell to the Bucks, 99-94. The Celtics started this one off real well, then the momentum steadily swung to Milwaukee's side.

Things got really interesting in the final minute of the game. The Celtics rallied from a 7-point deficit with 42.2 seconds remaining in regulation and made an 8-0 run in the final 30 seconds to tie the game at 88 and force overtime. In the overtime, Jeff Green took an elbow to the face from Ersan Ilyasova and had to leave the game. He has a bruised left cheek and some chipped teeth.

All in all, a wild night at the TD Garden.

Here's a recap:

The good:

* Paul Pierce did it again. The captain finished with a double-double as he scored 35 points on 13-of-23 from the floor, grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds, stole the ball 3 times, and handed out 5 helpers. Pierce was relied on heavily for the second straight game, and he came through in a big way. Pierce hit a jumper and got fouled -- he missed the and-one free-throw -- then stole the ball, and eventually hit the game-tying three-pointer at the end of regulation all in a span of less than 30 seconds.

* Jeff Green did a little bit of everything tonight. The highly-criticized forward led all bench players with 14 points in 28 minutes. He also had 2 blocks and 4 steals. Green came up clutch in the Celtics' miraculous run. He threw down an alley-oop from Rajon Rondo to cut Milwaukee's lead to 88-85 and tipped the ball out to Pierce for the game-tying hot after a missed three from Jason Terry. The bad news will come later, but the Celtics would not have been in overtime if it weren't for him.

* The bench rebounded nicely after back-to-back mediocre performances. They scored 35 points, led by Green and Courtney Lee. Lee chipped in with 11 points and did a tremendous job on the defensive end.

* After allowing 26.6 points in the first quarter over the past five games, the Celtics' defense started off strongly tonight. They only allowed 17 points in the first, their lowest total allowed since December 8.

The bad:

* The other four members of the starting lineup (excluding Pierce) did not live up to their end of the bargain. Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry struggled mightily shooting the ball. They combined to go 7-of-37. The four starters other than Pierce combined to shoot 10-of-45. It was just one of those nights where the ball just wasn't going on. Hey, it's a make/miss league, right Doc?

* Perimeter defense continues to be a problem for this team, and it starts with Rajon Rondo. Rondo's inability to stay in front of his man leads to open cracks in the Celtics' defense. This led to penetration into the paint, and it would lead to open looks on the wings as the Celtics defenders swarmed to the ball.

* Rebounding -- although the offensive rebounding numbers weren't exactly staggering, it was an area that killed the Celtics down the stretch -- will always be a problem with the Celtics. The Bucks outrebounded the Celtics 57-44. It goes back to the basics: the Celtics need to a better job of boxing out. Kevin Garnett is one player in particular that needs to find a man when a shot goes up and get himself in the best position to grab the rebound. Brandon Jennings missed a free throw at the end of overtime, and Ersan Ilyasova tipped the ball away from Green and kept the ball away from the Celtics. It was one of many crucial instances in which the Celtics failed to do their job on the boards.

* As I mentioned earlier, Jeff Green took a blow to the face with less than 30 seconds in overtime. He was diagnosed with a bruised left cheek and a few chipped teeth. Green took a while to get up off the court, and as he walked off, he appeared a bit woozy. Although he's going to feel some pain in the coming days, Green's injury could've been a lot worse.

* The Celtics had a 10 point lead four times, and they blew every single one.

Things don't get any easier for the Celtics. The next time they take the floor will be on Christmas afternoon when they travel to Brooklyn for a rematch with the Nets. It's the start of a grueling four-game road trip which includes visits with the Los Angeles Clippers, Golden State Warriors, and Sacramento Kings.