Coach George Karl went so far as to suggest that the Milwaukee Bucks' narrow, 95-92 decision over the well-rested Boston Celtics at the FleetCenter on Wednesday night could very well have been his team's best victory of the season.

Guard Ray Allen didn't quite go that far, labeling it one of the best, considering that the Bucks had lost a trying game the night before to the Los Angeles Lakers and the Celtics had not played for three days. Forward Glenn Robinson termed it a solid victory, noting his pleasure at seeing all three members of the team's so-called Big Three scoring more than 20 points apiece.

Best victory of the season?

Forward Anthony Mason rolled his eyes and walked off into the restroom.

Oh well then, let's go back to the coach.

"It was a great win," Karl said. "Because of the combination of last night's game and here was a team that had two or three days of rest. . . . Then to fall behind, 11-0 . . . We played a poised game all night.

After a long stretch at home, the Milwaukee Bucks survived a tough road test.

The Bucks beat Boston for the fourth straight time, winning 95-92 Wednesday night as Sam Cassell scored 26 points.

"Coming from a heartbreaking loss last night, we had to find out how to get our swagger back," Cassell said. "The last five or six games, we have been missing that and the swagger and confidence is why teams like the Lakers win."

The Bucks lost 99-89 to the Los Angeles Tuesday night snapping a three-game winning streak. Milwaukee had played five straight at home and 13 of 16 overall.

The Celtics' Antoine Walker was short on a 3-pointer at the buzzer. Boston has lost three straight since acquiring Tony Delk and Rodney Rogers from the Phoenix Suns.

"We fought hard to get stops on them, but they kept making tough shots," Delk said. "It will take some more practice and games for me to pick things up, but I know there isn't much time and I'll have to do it fast."

Erick Strickland and Walker hit 3-pointers in the last 25 seconds to pull the Celtics within 93-92 with 5.5 seconds remaining. But Cassell hit a pair of free throws to seal the game.

Ray Allen and Glenn Robinson had 22 points each for the Bucks, the only NBA team with three players averaging at least 20.

eorge Karl noticed something a little different about his Milwaukee Bucks this year. It wasn't merely the presence of newcomer Anthony Mason or the absence of Lindsey Hunter.

It was, well, an invisible tribute of sorts - and it may help explain why his team is not lapping the field in the Eastern Conference, which many figured to be the case.

''We've got a target on our backs,'' the Bucks' coach said last night upon his team's first visit to the FleetCenter. ''And I don't know if we adjusted to that yet.''

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/059/sports/Celtics_can_t_go_distance_for_win+.shtml

So, how far are the Milwaukee Bucks from being a championship team? Just about 10 minutes a game . . . the last 10.

They conned a sellout crowd at the Bradley Center, and they may even have deluded themselves for a while Tuesday night, but the Los Angeles Lakers are foolproof.

They're the bar in the National Basketball Association, and the Bucks slipped right under it after creating some excitement 2 minutes into the final quarter. An 11-2 run left them ahead and the customers on their feet, but it also put the defending champions in the proper frame of mind to dispense with pretenders.

The Bucks have not had the good fortune of catching the Lakers on one of their "down" periods this season. They visited Los Angeles earlier this season, when the Lakers were in the midst of their torrid start. On Nov. 27, Kobe Bryant poured in 33 points to lead the Lakers to a 104-85 victory that improved Los Angeles' record to 15-1.

Tonight, the Lakers enter play riding the crest of a three-game winning streak and looking to sweep a five-game trip that they view as the start of their push toward the playoffs.

"We are in the down side of the season," Jackson said. "Some separation is starting to happen, especially in our conference."

Said forward Robert Horry, "Once we get a streak of 10 or more, then we're probably getting our flow back."

The question everyone in the league will be seeking to answer as the regular season winds down is just how to beat the Lakers in the playoffs, especially when they are on top of their game as they were early this season and undoubtedly will be again by the time the post-season rolls around.

Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson irked Milwaukee fans last season when he said the Bucks were not contenders for the National Basketball Association title because they did not have a strong inside game.

Now that the Bucks have added Anthony Mason, Jackson's opinion has changed.

"He gives them a post-up presence," said Jackson, whose Lakers play the Bucks in a nationally televised game at 7 tonight at the Bradley Center. "If you remember what I said last year, that I felt Milwaukee couldn't get to the Finals because they didn't have a post-up presence, he gives them that post-up presence. Sometimes you get penetration from different means. You've got to be able to throw it in."

Jackson admitted to being surprised at the storm his comment created last season.

"That was quite a stir," he said. "It wasn't a knock; that's a good basketball club. But we throw the ball inside 45 times a game. If you can't throw it in, you lose an option. I went through that in Chicago."

If the Milwaukee Bucks end up winning their second consecutive Central Division championship this season, they might look back on their 89-82 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Sunday at the Bradley Center as a pivotal moment.

It might mean the difference in the division race and Eastern Conference post-season positioning.

"If they keep up with the pace they're at, we may meet in the second round of the playoffs," Milwaukee guard Ray Allen said. "Any edge you gain on a team, you've got to gain during the regular season. The tone is set during the regular season."

Said forward Glenn Robinson, "That was a legit win."

With 28 games left in the regular season, it's probably too early to talk about "must" victories. Let's just say this one was necessary.

There is no doubt that the Detroit Pistons are primed for their first-place grudge match against the Milwaukee Bucks Sunday afternoon at the Bradley Center. As far as the Bucks go . . . who knows?

The Pistons recall only too well the first time they played the Bucks this season, and Milwaukee handled them easily, 97-79, in a Jan. 21 Martin Luther King Day matinee in Detroit. Since then the Pistons have been on a roll, winning 12 of 14 games and have climbed into a tie for first place with the Bucks in the Central Division of the National Basketball Association.

"It should be a fun game," said Detroit's Jerry Stackhouse after the Pistons won Friday in Toronto for a franchise-record seventh straight road victory. "We didn't play well the last time we played them and we'd like to change that."

Where the Bucks are at these days is anyone's guess.

There is one funny aspect about this period of underachievement the Milwaukee Bucks have been muddling through over the past five weeks or so.

Even though George Karl's crew has lost far more than it has won over that span, the Bucks stature among their peers has not diminished over the long run.

Last week, for example, the Charlotte Hornets visited the Bradley Center and handed Milwaukee its sixth loss in eight games and third straight home defeat. Afterward, however, the Hornets proceeded to proclaim the Bucks as the team to beat in the Eastern Conference.

"They are the elite club in the East, in my opinion, because they have the most talent," said Hornets coach Paul Silas. "They'll get it together and will be hard to beat."

Said forward Jamal Mashburn: "They're the best team in the East. They proved that in the playoffs last year."

Karl, for his part, appreciates the sentiment but adds that his team must live up to the hype. "I like that," said Karl. "But we've got to prove that. We've got to play that way and we will."