The Milwaukee Bucks were reduced to scoreboard watching while trying to beat the Toronto Raptors on Monday night at the Bradley Center.

Ersan Ilyasova led a late Bucks rally to overcome the Raptors, 92-86, but that scoreboard gaze revealed the dreaded news: Milwaukee’s playoff quest was over for another year.

Philadelphia won at New Jersey, 105-87, to clinch the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference and eliminate the Bucks from contention.

The Bucks (31-33) chased both the New York Knicks and 76ers in the final weeks of the season but failed to catch either one. Philadelphia (34-30) leads Milwaukee by three games with just two remaining, and Wednesday’s game between the teams doesn’t mean much now.

“It’s real disappointing to finish the season and not make the playoffs,” said Ilyasova, who had 19 points and 15 rebounds against Toronto. “We started the season really bad.

“And when you look at our season, we lost a lot of close games. It’s really frustrating.”

via Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel