Bucks Beat Celtics to Advance to NBA Eastern Conference Finals

The Milwaukee Bucks had the best regular season record in the NBA this year, and easily swept the Detroit Pistons in four games in the first round of the playoffs. Next up in the East semifinals were the Boston Celtics, who had been the preseason favorite to win the conference. Boston lived up to that in Game 1 of the series, beating the Bucks 112-90 in Milwaukee, no less.

Apparently, that game was an aberration. Milwaukee won Game 2 by 21 points, and followed that with a pair of victories in Boston. Returning to Milwaukee for Game 5 on May 9th, the Bucks dominated the Celtics with a 116-91 victory to win the series and advance to their first conference final since 2001.

After several years of mediocrity, the Bucks are leaving no doubt they are as good as any team in the league, and the long suffering fans are being rewarded. Among those in attendance at the sold out game were other Wisconsin sports figures of note, including Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers (a minority owner of the team) and several Milwaukee Brewers, who conveniently had an afternoon game.

The Bucks will host Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals on either May 13th or 15th, against the winner of the Toronto Raptors–Philadelphia 76ers semifinal.