Bucks 119 - 122 Celtics summary, stats, scores and highlights | NBA
Tatum had 23 after the first two quarters, but didn't score again until there were just over 2:00 to go in the 4th. The Bucks battled back from a 20 point lead to make it a game late on, but Tatum had 8 in the final two and some change to close out the Bucks and secure their seventh straight win.
They stretch their lead over the Bucks and the rest of the pack win the win and are knocking on the door of the one seed in the East. The Bucks will spend the next four weeks trying to hold off the Knicks and Cavs for the two seed in the Conference Playoffs.
Jaylen Brown had 31 in the previous game against the Suns, and went over 20 again against the Bucks but he took a back seat to Tatum, Pritchard and White.
With no Giannis available, the Celtics were able to take advantage of plenty of mismatches including Kristaps Porzingis who gave the Bucks fits all night. He ended the game with 17 points on 6/11 shooting from inside the arc.
White set the tone in the first quarter, and Payton Prichard brought Boston to their feet scoring 13 points in a 12 minute stretch off the bench. He ended the game with 19 and is proving to be the C's favorite weapon off the bench.
The Boston Celtics extended their lead over the rest of the Eastern Conference with a win over the second seeded Milwaukee Bucks. Jayson Tatum led the C's to their seventh straight win with a 31 point night against a Bucks team missing Giannis Antetokounmpo.
While Tatum dominated, especially in the first half, it was Derrick White who started off the game scorching. He had 11 points in the first half after coming off his first ever triple double in the previous game against the Suns.
Lillard drops a deep three at the buzzer, but that's going to do it!
THE BOSTON CELTICS WIN THE BATTLE AT THE TOP OF THE EASTERN CONFERENCE!
Tatum to the line and he hits both FTs.
Middleton to the line after the foul on White and he hits both FTs.
Lillard missed the floater off the glass and Tatum goes to the line after dragging down the board. Both FTs are good.
Brown fouled by Beasley and he hits both FTs.
Timeout Bucs with 20.3 to go.
Portis drives to the bucket, gets the floater to fall and gets the foul! FT is no good! with 32.1 to go.
LIllard drills a three ball form the wing over Horford! Under a minute to go.
Porzingis skying for the rebound off the Tatum miss and he slams it home on the put back.
Lillard burns past Brown and lays it up with the right on the left side.
Tatum spinning to the lane and he lays it up with the left hand. That's his first FG of the second half.
Timeout Bucks with 1:38 to go.
Tatum to the line after the foul from Connaughton and he hits two much needed FTs.
Portis drops another three ball out of the timeout and it's a three point game!
Brown to the line after the foul on Connaughton but he misses both FTs!
Timeout MIL with 3:05 to go.
Portis drills the three ball form the wing and we have a six point game after a 7-0 run from MIL.
Portis out of the timeout and he drops the floater from the elbow
Timeout Celtics with 4:19 to go.
Connaughton with the tip in off the missed three from Beasley.
Double came for Tatum and he unloaded to White who hits the catch and shoot three ball!
Dame with the step back three ball and he drills it over Tatum!
White at the top of the key and Tatum hit him for the catch and shoot for three!
Timeout Bucks with 7:20 to go.
Portis on the fader from outside the lane and he drills it to stretch the run to 11-0.
Tatum got Td up and Middleton hits the FT out of the break.
Middleton's three just moments ago was ruled a two after review in the break.
Middleton strips Tatum and then jacks a three in transition!
Timeout C's after a 9-0 run from the Bucks!
Gallinari gets behind the defense on the break and slams it home off two feet.
Portis follows his own miss after sending White to the ground in a heap.
Middleton floats it up and in from the left hand side of the lane.
Pritchard starts the quarter of with a three ball from the top of the key! He's 5/7 from DT.
WE ARE HEADED TO THE 4TH QUARTER WITH THE C'S UP BY 18.
Connaughton drills the three ball after the feed from Middleton.
Brown stretching to the iron and finger rolls it off the glass.
Portis with another tough turn around in the corner and he hits the mid range J.
White takes the bump and gets the bucket to go! FT is good after the foul on Connaughton.
Portis with the turn around fader from the corner.
Brown to the line after the foul on Lillard and he hits both FTs. The lead is the largest of the night.
Lay off from Brown to Horford who sticks the three ball from the wing in transition.
Pritchard out of the timeout and he drills a three ball for his first point since the first half.
Timeout Celtics with under 5:00 to go in the 3rd quarter.
Portis with another put back off the miss from Beasley, .
Portis follows the miss from Dame and tip slams it back.
Porzingis to the line after the the foul on Lopez and he hits both FTs.
Lillard off the dribble and he slashes to the bucket for the lay up.
Porzingis to the line and he hits both FTs after the foul on Middleton.
Horford hits the three in the face of a defender and the Bucks are going to take a timeout with under 7:00 to go in the 3rd.
White pulls up from the wing and drills another three ball!
Middleton backs down Tatum and hits the fader in the lane.
Brown drives baseline and he lays it up off the glass.
Porzingis with the short range bucket on the block over the defender.
Lillard pulls up from the logo and drills it! He got going at the end of that first half.
Brown answers back from the corner and he might just get hot coming out of the break.
WE ARE BACK IN PLAY FROM BOSTON!!1
Beasley drills the three ball from the wing to get us started.
With Giannis out, the Bucks were going to have to have everyone step up but that wasn't the case for the first 20 minutes or so. Lillard had just 4 points, but finally started to feel it at the end of the half and goes to the break with 13, tied with Khris Middleton as the high scorer for MIL.
Jayson Tatum dominated the first half but Payton Pritchard got the biggest roar of the night from this Boston crown after scoring 13 in 12 minutes off the bench.
It was all Celtics in that first half. They started hot out of the gate and didn't slow down. Derrick White followed his first triple double last gam with 11 points in the first quarter.
Tatum with the off balanced floater and hits it before the buzzer! He's got 23 after two quarters.
WE ARE HEADED TO HALFTIME FROM BOSTON!!!
The C's built up an 18 point lead in the 2nd, and we go into the break with the C's up 11.
Lillard fouled by Brown on the three ball and he hits all three
Brown pulls up from the elbow and he hits the two for one bucket with 30 on the clock.
Middleton to the line and he hits one of two after the foul on Tatum.
Brown to the line and he misses both after the play was upheld.
Bucks are going to challenge a foul on Middleton after he got elbowed in the face by Brown on his way to the basket.
TImeout with 67 seconds left in the half.
Tatum goes to the rack and finger rolls it off the crystal.
LIllard goes down Main Street and scoops it off the backboard.
Porzingis to the line after the foul on Beasley and he hits one of two FTs.
Step back from Lillard and he drills it from long range!
Lopez left open again and he drills the three ball!
Porzingis with the post up on Beasley and he takes it over the defender for the short jumper from the block.
Lillard to the line after the foul on Porzingis and he hits both FTs.
Tatum to the line after the foul on Crowder and he hits one of two FTs.
Crowder open in the corner and Lopez hit him with the kickout.
Driving down the lane off the spin at the elbow and Porzingis slams it on Lopez!
Lopez to the line after the foul on White, and he hits both FTs.
Timeout Celtics with 5:01 to go in the half.
Pritchard with another one from the corner! He's got 13 points in 12 minutes off the bench!
Pull up from Tatum over Middleton and he's got 18 after the three ball!
Horford drills the corner J from the mid range.
Middleton with the fader outside the lane coming out of the timeout.
Mykhailiuk off the bench and he drills the three ball which brings a timeout from MIL with 8:37 to go in the half.
Beverley on the lay up and give the too small to Pritchard.
Pritchard steps back in the corner with a foot on the line and he's taking over this game!
Tatum drills a three ball from the top of the key and he's red hot coming out of the gate.
Middelton with the offensive board and the put back down low.
Pritchard puts it on the deck and lays it up and in.
Gallinari off the dribble and he slams it home after the slash to the rack.
Pritchard strokes a three ball from the top of the key and he's got a couple of those off the bench.
Beverley with a spinning shot in the paint and he's got 7.
Tatum starts the quarter with the lane in the lane and he hits it on the left side of the paint.
WE ARE AT THE END OF THE FIRST QUARTER.
The C's lead by double digits after a quick 10 points from Tatum, and 11 from White, but Middleton and Lillard helped the Bucks get back into the game.
Pritchard with the catch and shoot and he drills it from the top of the key.
Lillard drives down the right side of the lane and hits the tear drop over traffic.
Portis spots up from the corner and hits the mid range jumper.
White comes out of the timeout and he hits the mid range J from the elbow.
Beverley with five quick points off the bench after his three from the corner off the feed from Crowder!
Timeout Celtics with under 3:00 to go in the 1st quarter.
White sent to the line and he hits both FTs after the foul on Portis.
Beverley off the bench and to the line after the foul o White and he his both FTs.
Connaughton follows the missed three from Crowder and tips it back up and in.
Kickout from Porzingis to White and he drills the three ball! He's got 7 on the night already.
Quick trigger from Middleton on the wing and he drills the three ball.
Middleton with the drive and finish at the lane.
Tillman picks off the pass from Middleton and feeds White for the slam.
Brown to the line after the foul on Crowder and he hits both FTs.
Porzingis had Lillard on his back and he flips it up and over him from inside the FT line.
Crowder goes to the rack after the pick and roll with Middleton.
Tatum is fouled by Middleton and he hits both FTs at the line.
Tatum from the top of the key and he's got a quick 8 points!
Timeout Bucks with 8:00 to go in the 1st.
Tatum puts it on the deck and makes a rim run from the left side of the lane.
Middleton drills a three pointer from the top of the key and both teams have come out of the gate hot.
Porzingis drills the FT line jumper off the step back.
Tatum answers back with a three ball to open his accont.
Lopez was left alone on the perimeter and he drills the three ball!
Lillard steps back from a foot inside the lane and he's got his first FG.
Brown gets his night going with a three ball from the wing.
Crowder hits the mid range jumper from the elbow.
White to the rim off the dribble and he's on the board after his first triple double last game.
WE ARE UNDERWAY FROM THE GARDEN!
The Celtics are fully loaded for their big game against the Bucks. After Jaylen Brown sat out last game, he is back with Jaylen Brown who came into tonight questionable, Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis for this showdown in the East.
With Giannis unavailable tonight, Doc Rivers is going with Damian Lillard coming off of one of his best games as a Buck, joined by Beasley, MIddleton, Crowder and Lopez for tonight's battle at the top of the Eastern Conference.
Eastern Conference Standings
Taking a look at the standings in the East, we see the Celtics well above the Bucks and the rest of the pack. They are a shoe in for the one seed in the conference and it would take a major collapse for them to lose out on home court in the NBA Finals, should they get there. The Bucks are hanging on to second place, despite sitting 10 games back of the C’s. Behind them, they have the Cavs a game back from them in 3rd, and the Knicks three games back in fourth. It’s shaping up to be a three team race for second place in the East, and it most likely won’t be settled until the very last days of the regular season.
Giannis misses back to back games
The Milwaukee Bucks head to Boston to take on the league leading Celtics looking for a win, but they will have to do it with out Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Return of Tatum
The Boston Celtics have the luxury of having such a large lead on the rest of the pack in the East, that they can rest their players whenever they find it convenient. While teams may come up with some whack name for an injury to make it sound more serious than it is, most of those diagnoses are to allow their stars to rest without getting punished by the NBA. The C’s showed that they can survive without their star against the Pistons last game, but tonight Jayson Tatum is back in the line up and the C’s are heavy favorites as Giannis sits tonight.
Dame time
Damian Lillard came to Milwaukee searching for title glory after spending his entire career in Portland. On paper it looked like a sure shot as Giannis and one of the best scorers in the league were going to team up and lead the Bucks back to championship contention. It hasn’t exactly worked out that way, even though they are sitting in second place in the East. The defense has been called into question after the departure of Jrue Holiday. First year coach Adrian Griffin was canned in the middle of the season, and the Doc Rivers era got off to a rocky start. Lillard is averaging 24.4 ppg and 7 assists as the chemistry continues to grow between him and Giannis, but strangely enough Lillard had one of his best assisting games with the Greek on the bench, dishing 16 assists in the win against the Suns.
Celtics last game
The Celtics rattled off their sixth straight win against one of the worst teams in the league as the Detroit Pistons came to town and against a Boston team that decided to sit Jayson Tatum who had a banged up ankle on the second end of a back to back. Four of the five Celtics starters scored 20 points or more, led by Jaylen Brown who posted 31 and 7 rebounds while Derrick White registered his first ever triple double with 22, 10, and 10 assists as Boston stretched the lead up to 29 in the second half and won their sixth straight in a 26 point victory over Detroit.
Bucks last game
The Bucks hosted the Suns in Milwaukee on Sunday, and it was Bobby Portis that played the hero with Giannis Antetokounmpo sidelined with an injury. The Bucks took control of the game in the second quarter, and went on to shoot nearly 60% from the three point line as the lad stretched to 25 in the third quarter. Portis had 31 and 10 rebounds while Damian Lillard dropped 31 of his own while dishing out 16 assists as the Bucks eased past the Suns 140-129 for their third win in their last six games.
We are live from the Garden
Hello everyone and welcome to Boston where the Celtics are back home for a final game at TD Garden before heading out on a long road trip over the next week and a half. They come into tonight riding a six game win streak, and are not only the hottest team in the league, but also became the first team in the league to clinch a playoff birth and now will look to wrap up first place in the East. The Bucks don’t have much chance at the one seed, so they will try holding off the rest of the pack chasing the two seed for the rest of the season. These two teams were supposed to be the best in the East and they currently are, but Milwaukee will be have to try to down the Celtics without their two time MVP.
Bucks vs. Celtics
It’s a showdown of the top teams in the East and a potential preview of the Conference Finals from Boston tonight. Damian and the Milwaukee Bucks are set for a showdown with Jayson Tatum and the Celtics from TD Garden and AS English will be with you all night providing live coverage, stats, highlights and analysis of tonight’s spotlight matchup in the Eastern Conference.