Celtics-Bucks has playoff implications

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BOSTONThe NBA season is still relatively young, but it's never too soon to think about the playoffs right?

Especially when you consider tonight's game between the Boston Celtics and the Milwaukee Bucks will be their fourth and final matchup of the season.

The game should have even more significance for the Celtics who come into the game having lost two of the three previous meetings.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers acknowledged that there is some thought given to the playoff implications after facing a team as many times as the C's have the Bucks.

"But really, I don't think about (it) that much anyway," Rivers said. "Obviously we know if we win, it's a 2-2 tie. But at the end of the day, you have to be playing well."

And that remains an issue for the Celtics, whose play tends to look like the basketball equivalent of the cha-cha slide - one step here, another step there, but never a lengthy string of steps forward.

Former Celtic and current Milwaukee Buck Marquis Daniels understands that tonight's game will give the Bucks a leg up on the C's in case both teams finish with an identical record which isn't out of the question when you consider the C's (13-12) and the Bucks (13-11) are separated by mere percentage points now.

"It would be nice to have that advantage, but our focus right now is more on us and just continuing to improve as a team," Daniels said. "We can't really think about the playoffs now. Our focus has to be on just trying to get better."

Boston's Courtney Lee had similar thoughts on the importance of tonight's game.

"We have to start winning games, first of all," Lee said. "That's our main focus now, try to get more than a two-game winning streak. Whether it's Milwaukee or whoever, we just have to starting beating teams, period."

The C's actually had one three-game winning streak this season, one that began with tonight's opponent, Milwaukee.

"Let's start up another one, a longer one," Lee said.

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