Boston Celtics defeats Milwaukee Bucks 119-116 to Retain the Top spot in East

Tatum wards off sickness, aids in the slowing of Giannis, and Power the Boston Celtics to defeat the Milwaukee Bucks 

 

In an early meeting between the two best teams in the Eastern Conference, the Boston Celtics defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 119-116 on Wednesday night thanks to 23 points and 11 rebounds from Jayson Tatum, who recovered from an illness.

With 26 points and eight assists from Jaylen Brown, Boston raised its record to 12-3, the best in the NBA. Derrick White scored 13 points, and Kristaps Porzingis contributed 21 more.

“I felt it was excellent. It goes without saying that the spectators and everyone else in the building were aware that the top two seeds were competing, and it only served to heighten the tension, according to Porzingis. “There was a certain energy.” They gave it their best shot in the end and nearly pulled off a comeback, but we held firm. We played well.

The first half saw the Celtics jump out to a 21-point advantage, and they never looked back. Before the Bucks mounted a late comeback in the last two minutes and cut the deficit to 114-111 before Tatum scored three free throws in the final 21.2 seconds, they maintained a double-digit lead.https://x.com/NBA/status/1727523235263127959?s=20

With 28 points, Brook Lopez guided Milwaukee (10-5). Giannis Antetokounmpo was held to 21 points after scoring at least 40 in his previous two games, while Damian Lillard finished with 27 points, five rebounds, and five assists.

Regarding the sluggish start, Lillard stated, “Usually it’s what the opposing team is doing when you miss a lot of shots.” “If you watch us play, we just didn’t play to our full potential.” We needed to do a number of things, like screen for one another, make additional passes, and have a nice offensive pace.”

The Bucks’ five-game winning streak came to an end after they had scored 130 points or more in their previous three games.

Tatum scored a season-high 45 points in an overtime defeat against Charlotte the previous week, so he started even though he was labeled as questionable.

The Celtics shot a scorching 58.1%, including 12 of 23 from 3-point range, to lead 67-53 at the half.

Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla stated, “We were making great plays, executing for each other, and we had our defensive connectivity.”

Midway through the second quarter, they had a 10-0 lead and extended it to 21-8 before taking a 54-33 lead thanks to a three-point play by Brown.

Adrian Griffin, the team’s rookie coach, benched Antetokounmpo for a dibbling infraction. The star was leaning against the scorer’s table facing the court when the two looked to exchange words. He stayed there until the next break of play.

In an attempt to gain control of the East, the teams made some of their largest signings in the offseason.

Marcus Smart, one of the team’s seasoned floor captains, was traded to Memphis in the massive three-team trade that saw the Celtics acquire Porzingis in late June.

Months after Lillard asked to be traded out of Portland, the Bucks later added him on September 27. In that trade, Jrue Holiday was acquired by the Boston Celtics from the Trail Blazers four days after he was dealt by Milwaukee.

When Holiday intercepted Lillard defensively on Milwaukee’s opening possession and Porzingis blocked Antetokounmpo’s shot that swerved off the backboard during his first drive to the basket, those guys also became involved right away.

The atmosphere in the building was such that Lillard remarked, “We knew neither one of us was going to win the championship tonight.” The fact that we were the second team in the East and they were the first created a high-level playing environment. Right now, the winner goes out as the number one, which is meaningless. Both their team and ours have a large number of elite players.

Jaylen Brown and Porzingis had an epic display of chemistry together. JB on his early chemistry with KP:

“It’s an automatic connection right now.”