Guard Damon Jones took it upon himself to make the official proclamation after the Milwaukee Bucks' playoff-clinching, 90-83 victory over the dreadful Toronto Raptors at the Air Canada Centre on Sunday afternoon.

"Hey, we got an 'X', Doc!" Jones shouted to his teammates in the victorious visiting locker room. "We got an 'X'. Playoffs! We got a 'X' baby. Yeeeaaah, it's OK."

Jones, of course, referred to the designation placed next to playoff teams in published listings of National Basketball Association standings. And the Bucks admitted that it was indeed satisfying to achieve "X status" especially after they were overlooked and in some cases, totally shunned, in most pre-season prognostications.

"Man, it's really gratifying," said Jones. "But that was one of our goals at the beginning of the year to make a push for the playoffs. No one gave us a chance, but we gutted it out for four or five months and here we are."

Said Brian Skinner, who lead the team with 19 points and 14 rebounds, "Everybody said that (the Bucks wouldn't make the playoffs). It came down to the coaches and the individuals on the basketball court. We decided what we want to do for the season and it didn't matter what the media said or anyone else. We knew what we were capable of and we've proven that. And now we just want to keep going forward."