The Bucks picked up their 50th win of the season, 127-121 once morest the Celtics tonight in Milwaukee. The defending champions (50-30), led by Giannis Antetokounmpo (29 points at 11/21, 11 rebounds, 5 assists) and Jrue Holiday (29 points at 10/19, 8 rebounds, 8 assists), ended their game with a 9-0. They pass 2nd in the East ahead of Boston (50-31) and Philadelphia (49-31). In the absence of Jayson Tatum and Al Horford for this game, Jaylen Brown finished in a triple-double (22 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists, career high) but Milwaukee was able to take advantage of the lack of size of its opponents by dominating 54 to 35 points in the number of points scored in the paint and 14 to 5 to those registered on second chance.
The big 3-point address of the C’s (21/50) nevertheless almost allowed them to win, with in particular the 7/12 of Marcus Smart (29 points). Daniel Theis sign him 22 points and Derrick White 19. Bucks Side Bobby Portis finishes at 17 points, Brook Lopez 15. Smart took Boston ahead 119-118 on a 3-pointer 4’25 from the end, then 121-118 on a layup almost 2 minutes later. Portis equalized from a distance at 2’11 then Milwaukee took a definitive advantage on a second shot from Antetokounmpo at 1’31.
White missed a long-range attempt behind and Holiday tapped on one of her own misses for the +3 (124-121) with a minute remaining. Theis in check under the circle, Giannis gave his team a 4-point lead (125-121) at 39 seconds. George Hill then stole a ball from Brown on Boston’s next possession and was awarded the last 2 points of the game on a goaltending from Theis at 23.1 seconds.
