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Celtics aim to end 18-game losing streak

Feb 14, 2007 - 4:50 PM Milwaukee (19-33) at Boston (21-38) 7:30 pm EST

BOSTON (Ticker) -- Coach Doc Rivers and the Boston Celtics have a chance to end their franchise-record 18-game losing streak before the All-Star break when they face the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday.

Boston is just five games shy of tying the NBA single-season record of 23 straight losses, set by the Vancouver-Memphis franchise and Denver.

Cleveland dropped an NBA-record 24 straight - bridging two seasons - including the last 19 games of the 1981-82 campaign and the opening five in 1982-83.

In his second game back from injury, star forward Paul Pierce poured in 29 points for the Celtics in last Sunday's 109-107 setback at Minnesota.

"This is tough. The guys played so hard," Pierce said. "We deserved to win, we did everything we could, but down the stretch, they made the last play. It's a bad feeling in the locker room with this loss. It definitely hurts. We've just got to get it out of our head. Eventually, it's going to end."

Pierce collected 34 points and seven rebounds as Boston coasted to a 111-98 win over the Bucks at the Bradley Center on November 25.

Milwaukee would like to bounce back after suffering its seventh defeat in eight games - a 99-93 loss to Dallas on Tuesday.