NBA Playoffs : Celtics and Pistons Go for Clinching Victories

Milwaukee’s playoff series with the Boston Celtics has been so close that Buck Coach Don Nelson is confident his team, facing elimination, can actually do what has been done just once in 17 months.

He thinks a visiting team--his Bucks--can win in Boston Garden.

“I really do think we will win in Boston,” he said. “All we are worrying about is winning that one game in Boston. I’m not going to worry about winning three straight because that sounds too insurmountable.”

Winning just one game in Boston isn’t exactly a routine accomplishment. The Celtics are 79-1 there since losing to the Portland Trail Blazers on Dec. 6, 1985.

If they win tonight, they will take the National Basketball Assn. Eastern Conference semifinal series, 4-1, and eliminate the Bucks in what could be Nelson’s last game as their coach.

Nelson, who has been at odds with Buck owner Herb Kohl, has indicated that this will be his last season with the team.

The Atlanta Hawks will be eliminated from the NBA playoffs if they lose to Detroit in tonight’s fifth game of their Eastern Conference semifinal series. But Hawk Coach Mike Fratello doesn’t want his players looking at it that way.

“One game. We have to win one game,” Fratello said. “That’s all that matters. That’s all we have to worry about. I don’t want our guys thinking of anything except that one game.”

The Pistons lead the series, 3-1, going into tonight’s Game 5 at The Omni in Atlanta.