MILWAUKEE, Feb. 8 (Ticker) -- Not in his wildest dreams could Mike James picture such a resounding victory against his former team.

James made 8-of-13 3-pointers and scored a career-high 28 points as the Milwaukee Bucks ripped the first-place Boston Celtics, 121-97.

NBA TV highlights from Bucks-Celtics: 300k

James began last season with Boston but was sent to Detroit in the three-way Rasheed Wallace deal. He won a championship ring with the Pistons but was not re-signed and joined the Bucks, who needed help at point guard.

Although his coach disagreed, James said revenge was not on his mind.

"This was just another win tonight, nothing else," James said.

"It happens sometimes when a guy gets traded from an organization, every time he faces them, he tries to give them a little extra dagger," said Bucks coach Terry Porter, a 17-year NBA veteran. "It's just the mentality of players in any sport."

In just 26 minutes off the bench, James made 9-of-15 shots. His previous career high was 24 vs. Seattle on Dec. 10, 2003 - when he was with Boston.

"I've felt good all week long and I was able to carry some good practices into the game tonight," James added.

"He shot the ball very well tonight," Michael Redd said. "We wanted to get the bigs involved down the stretch, but Mike shot the ball well tonight."

Redd added 17 points for the Bucks, who have won three straight games at the Bradley Center and nine of the last 10 meetings here against the Celtics, who had a three-game winning streak halted.

"We were outplayed, outcoached, and we threw in the towel extremely early," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said.

Behind 13 points from Raef LaFrentz in the first quarter, the Celtics shot 57 percent (12-of-21) - and trailed, 36-31.

They totally unraveled in the second period when Milwaukee scored a season-high 42 points fueled by 11 from James and eight from Joe Smith. Boston went almost 6 1/2 minutes without scoring during a 22-0 Bucks spurt and trailed, 78-46, at the half.

The game was a total opposite of Milwaukee's last contest in which the team fell behind Washington, 64-39, en route to a 112-94 defeat at the MCI Center on Saturday.

"This was a great way to respond to one of our worst games, and it was certainly the best offensive stretch we've had," Porter said.

It was Milwaukee's most points in a half since March 1987 and two shy of the NBA high set by Washington in a loss at Dallas on Jan. 18.

Tempers flared late in the third quarter when Desmond Mason drove the left baseline and was fouled hard by Boston's Kendrick Perkins. Perkins received a flagrant-2 foul and was ejected for shoving Mason to the floor when the two became entangled.

"I guess he felt like a tough guy, it was a cheap shot and I think he knows that," Mason said. "The guys kept me from getting into trouble, but we've got them two more times."

Selected to his fourth All-Star team before the game, Paul Pierce scored just seven points on 2-of-10 shooting. It was just the second time this season that the reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Week was held below 10 points.

"It was just one of those days and that is how you have to look at it," Pierce said. "Things didn't go our way and then we couldn't stop the bleeding. The good thing about the NBA is that we have another game tomorrow and another chance to bounce back."