Celtics had all the advantages, so how did the Bucks flip the script?

Boston went into Milwaukee with everything pointing its way. It arrived riding a five-game surge, while its opponent had managed only two wins in its previous twelve outings. It also came in with the benefit of a five-day break after its last game in Toronto against the Raptors. And then there was the opponent itself – a Bucks team trying to make sense of its identity amid the Giannis Antetokounmpo affair.

The Greek star wants to leave the franchise where he has spent his entire NBA career since 2013, the one he led to its second championship in 2021, fifty years after the first in 1971. His decision appears to have reached a point of no return. That, coupled with the calf injury he suffered on Friday the 5th that will sideline him for two to four weeks, makes it highly unlikely he will wear a Bucks jersey again.

All those factors tilted the stage toward the visitors. Yet Milwaukee steadied itself and came away with a 116–101 win, overcoming a first half in which the Celtics ran them over from deep (11 of 23) and rode a strong start from Jaylen Brown. The forward scored 13 of his 30 points in the opening period to push Boston to a 25–39 lead and help it reach its biggest margin of the night in the second quarter at 38–52.

The Bucks held on and, coming out of halftime, flipped the scoreboard. The comeback began with Kyle Kuzma, who opened the second half at full throttle with nine quick points to power an 11–0 run. The game was tied four minutes into the third quarter at 71–71.

By the start of the fourth, Milwaukee had already built a small cushion at 87–80, and it widened thanks to Bobby Portis. Eleven of his 25 points (including five of six from long range) came in that stretch, guiding the Bucks to a 112–91 advantage. Boston faded from beyond the arc, hitting only three of 26 attempts after halftime. Hugo González had limited impact, finishing with six points (one of two from deep) and three rebounds in 15:28.

NBA Matchday

Houston Rockets 115 - Los Angeles Clippers 113

New Orleans Pelicans 143 - Portland Trail Blazers 120

Sacramento Kings 105 - Denver Nuggets 136

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Milwaukee Bucks

Stats

43 Thanasis Antetokounmpo
50 Cole Anthony
17 Amir Coffey
11 Gary Harris
44 Andre Jackson Jr.
18 Kyle Kuzma
35 Pete Nance
7 Kevin Porter Jr.
9 Bobby Portis
13 Ryan Rollins
0 Jericho Sims
5 Gary Trent Jr.
3 Myles Turner
29 Alex Antetokounmpo
19 Mark Sears

Stats

	Min	Pts	TR	OR	DR	Ast	Los	Rec	Blk	S1	S2	S3	RF	CF	Val
43 Thanasis Antetokounmpo	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/1	0/0	0	0	0
50 Cole Anthony	18	9	3	0	3	5	2	1	1	0/0	3/5	1/1	0	5	0
17 Amir Coffey	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
11 Gary Harris	32	0	2	0	2	2	1	0	1	0/0	0/1	0/2	0	2	0
44 Andre Jackson Jr.	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
18 Kyle Kuzma	30	31	6	0	6	0	3	0	1	4/5	12/15	1/2	0	3	0
35 Pete Nance	1	2	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0/0	1/1	0/1	0	0	0
7 Kevin Porter Jr.	31	18	10	2	8	13	3	1	0	5/5	5/7	1/3	0	4	0
9 Bobby Portis	26	27	10	1	9	0	0	1	0	0/0	6/7	5/6	0	1	0
13 Ryan Rollins	25	10	2	0	2	7	3	2	0	0/0	2/6	2/4	0	5	0
0 Jericho Sims	10	2	1	0	1	0	2	0	0	0/0	1/2	0/0	0	1	0
5 Gary Trent Jr.	27	13	2	1	1	1	0	0	0	0/0	2/3	3/6	0	0	0
3 Myles Turner	28	4	3	1	2	0	1	0	2	2/4	1/2	0/4	0	3	0
29 Alex Antetokounmpo	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
19 Mark Sears	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0

Boston Celtics

Stats

7 Jaylen Brown
52 Luka Garza
28 Hugo González
30 Sam Hauser
8 Josh Minott
11 Payton Pritchard
88 Neemias Queta
55 Baylor Scheierman
4 Anfernee Simons
26 Xavier Tillman
27 Jordan Walsh
9 Derrick White
44 Max Shulga

Stats

	Min	Pts	TR	OR	DR	Ast	Los	Rec	Blk	S1	S2	S3	RF	CF	Val
7 Jaylen Brown	28	30	3	1	2	3	4	0	0	8/9	8/13	2/4	0	3	0
52 Luka Garza	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
28 Hugo González	15	6	3	1	2	1	0	1	0	1/2	1/3	1/2	0	0	0
30 Sam Hauser	21	0	7	0	7	1	2	0	1	0/0	0/1	0/9	0	1	0
8 Josh Minott	22	7	1	0	1	1	1	2	0	1/2	0/1	2/3	0	3	0
11 Payton Pritchard	30	11	5	1	4	7	0	0	0	0/0	1/3	3/11	0	1	0
88 Neemias Queta	25	9	10	5	5	0	1	0	0	3/6	3/6	0/0	0	2	0
55 Baylor Scheierman	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/1	0	0	0
4 Anfernee Simons	26	7	0	0	0	2	0	1	0	2/2	1/3	1/6	0	1	0
26 Xavier Tillman	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
27 Jordan Walsh	32	20	8	4	4	0	1	3	0	1/1	5/6	3/4	0	3	0
9 Derrick White	29	11	2	1	1	3	4	0	0	3/3	1/3	2/9	0	1	0
44 Max Shulga	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0