Boston – – Jaylen Brown He dropped his shots in the fourth quarter. Hence the demolition of Pax Star Giannis Antikonmo.
Brown scored 13 of his 29 points in the fourth, and Jason Tatum He scored 41 goals for Boston on Sunday to help the Celtics beat Milwaukee 139-118 in a matchup between the two best teams in the NBA.
Tatum scored 20 in the third quarter, when the Celtics turned their one-point lead to 100-86. Brown took over on fourth down, contributing to the defense with a pick that sent Antetokounmpo to the ground before bouncing and shoving Brown in the back.
“I thought I was playing nice physical defense, nothing sloppy. It looked like it was a clean play,” Brown said. He got up and threw an elbow in my face, for whatever reason.”
After some jaw-dropping back and forth, Antetokounmpo was fouled and went to the bench. The teams played another 3:41 without further incident.
“There’s a difference between trying to be a tough guy and telling your opponent I don’t hold back, I’m not afraid of any challenge or any match at all,” said Brown. “At that moment I was just telling him that.”
Antetokounmpo, who fell hard on his hands Friday night but got out from the start, scored 27 points with nine rebounds. Asked about his team’s ability to limit the damage Antetokounmo caused, Celtics coach Joe Mazzola said, “Reducing insane. He had 27.”
“He’s a great player,” he said, “and he should be disciplined against him.”
Jrue holiday Scored 23 for Milwaukee, which lost its third straight game for the first time this season. The Celtics have also struggled recently, losing five out of six games before winning back-to-back games.
However, Boston (24-10) has the best record in the league, followed closely by Milwaukee (22-11).
“Obviously we lost to them last year in the playoffs and we’ve had battles with them since I moved to Milwaukee,” said the Bucks forward. Pat Connaughton. “So they are two teams that know each other.”
“But it’s also December 25th. The NBA season is a long season, and we’ll be a much better basketball team by the end of this year than we are now,” he said. “And I’m sure they will be.”
The Celtics led by 10 in the first quarter and 11 in the second, when Antetokounmpo fired back-to-back bricks from 3-point range and up the middle. It was flooded by Jason Tatum.
Their lead was less than one point, 62-61, from before Bobby Portis The Browns on a desperation 3-pointer at the end of the first half spoiled the buzzer. Brown missed all three free throws. Another miss in the third quarter before hitting the second and ending the 2-for-6 from the streak.
Boston pulled away on third down, opening up a double-digit lead that was only briefly broken by Milwaukee.
The two teams met in the second round of last year’s Eastern Conference playoffs, and the Celtics won seven games en route to the NBA Finals. It is their first meeting since then. This past Christmas in Milwaukee, the Bucks beat Boston 117-113.
Tip-ins
Antetokounmo injured his hand after being fouled against the net on Friday night. X-rays were negative. … Connaughton, a native of nearby Arlington, Massachusetts, made his first start of the season and scored 15. … the Celtics made five of six 3-point attempts. … Chris Middleton He sat out his fifth straight game with a knee injury. He also missed the first 20 games of the season. … Sam Hauser She was placed in a long three-pointer at the first quarter buzzer on an inside pass with 1.7 seconds remaining. … Derek White The 3-pointer hit in the third quarter. He missed 15 games in a row over six games.
Next
Bucks: Visit the Bulls on Wednesday night.
Celtics: Host Rockets on Tuesday night.
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