Rapid Recap: Celtics 111, Bucks 105

Tatum drops 34 to spoil Middleton’s return

The Milwaukee Bucks battled valiantly with the Boston Celtics in Khris Middleton’s return, but silly shots down the stretch gave their opponent the win, 111-105, bringing them back down to .500 on the season. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard had 30 and 31, respectively, but it was not enough as Jayson Tatum led all scorers with 34.

NBA.com Box Score

Game Recap

In true Celtics form, Tatum kicked it off with a three to get the game underway. Jaylen Brown then made consecutive buckets, and Dame came back with the pull-up three. Then Tatum and Brown hit another set of threes to force the Milwaukee timeout, Boston up 13-7. Boston then went on a run before Khris Middleton made a ridiculous and-one three to reduce the deficit to four points (welcome back, Khash). Although there were some bad shots taken, the Bucks closed out the quarter relatively well, only down 29-27 after one.

The Bucks opened the second quarter with both Giannis and Khris off the court. Thankfully, Dame Lillard was able to carry them through the first few minutes and force a Boston timeout early in the second. The Celtics went cold from three (0/12 for the period), but frustratingly, the Bucks were unable to make their share of open shots as well. Brook Lopez nailed a three to open his account for the night midway through the period, and Trent nailed another three to give the Bucks their first lead of the night. They held onto a four-point advantage going into halftime, up 57-53.

Jaylen Brown made it interesting early in the third by getting into it with Giannis, getting a tech in the process. Then Giannis got caught ball-watching, leaving Jrue Holiday open for three, forcing the Milwaukee timeout with the game tied at 63. The teams went blow-for-blow for a few minutes there, with the lead changing a few times late in the third. Giannis had some really smart plays navigating how to attack Boston’s lesser defenders, especially working with his buddy Khris. The Bucks ended the period playing some great defence, leading 82-78.

Tatum immediately nailed a three to reduce Boston’s deficit to one and then knocked in an and-one triple to give the Celtics the lead. AJ Green responded with a cold-blooded three to tie the game once again. Dame got a few buckets attacking Neemias Queta, Tatum kept cooking, and then Trent hit a corner bomb. Celtics timeout, Bucks up 95-92. Giannis attacked Hauser and scored consecutive buckets (again, the mismatch hunting was great). Boston responded with buckets from Holiday and Tatum to take the lead. Lillard exploded for the dunk to put the Bucks up one, but Tatum got a dunk to give the lead right back. Then Giannis stupidly settled for a three, and Horford hit one in transition immediately after to put the Celtics up four. Just a dumbfounding decision. From there, it was basically curtains.

Stat That Stood Out

The Bucks let a very winnable game go tonight. The Celtics, usually excellent from three, shot a horrible 17/53 from deep. If Milwaukee had valued their possessions more—especially down the stretch—they could have pulled this one out.

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