Recap: Celtics bench leads the way, defeat Milwaukee Bucks 99-83
Boston followed up their impressive win over Washington with another one tonight over the Bucks, 99-83. With Marcus Smart still out with a toe injury, Brad Stevens went with the same starting lineup that started against the Wizards. The green started slow by going down 8-0 before Stevens called a timeout. However, the Celtics bounced back and ended up making it a tie game at 24-24 by the end of the first quarter.
After going back and forth with the Bucks for much of the first half, the Celtics turned things up a notch after halftime and pulled away by the end of the third quarter going up 76-59. The fourth quarter wasn't much of a contest as the C's bench managed to keep this game out of reach.
Once again the story of this game was how well the bench performed. Evan Turner once again played the role of playmaker well and had 11 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, with 4 steals. Kelly Olynyk also contributed 11 points off the bench while David Lee also played well putting in 11 points to go with his 5 rebounds. Rookie RJ Hunter played extended minutes in the 3rd quarter and showed his talent contributing 7 points and 7 rebounds in 19 minutes. Isaiah Thomas also led all scorers with 20 points.
The Celtics played zone defense for much of the 3rd quarter and that resulted in causing Milwaukee to turn the ball over which led to easy buckets for the Celtics. They clamped down on the Bucks and showed that even without Marcus Smart that they could play well on the defensive end.
Notes:
The Celtics started the game pretty slow and ended up down 8-0 before Brad Stevens called a timeout. The first bucket for the team didn't come until 8:47 had passed in the quarter with a nice jump shot from Jared Sullinger.
Boston's starters haven't been performing well to start the game and that trend continued tonight with Isaiah Thomas and Amir Johnson being taken out of the game earlier than usual. Kelly Olynyk, Evan Turner, David Lee, RJ Hunter, and Jonas Jerebko came in off the bench and played well.
The green went on an 11-3 run in the 2nd quarter to go up 35-27 with the bench providing most of the lift.
Sullinger ended the first half with 9 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists. Greg Monroe finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds in the first half for the Milwaukee Bucks.
Evan Turner took Avery Bradley's place in the starting lineup to start the 2nd half as Bradley left the game with a bruised left leg.
The Cs started to run away with the game in the 3rd quarter after going with a zone defense that resulted in a multitude of steals that led to baskets.
Jae Crowder once again shined on the defensive end of the game with 4 steals.
RJ Hunter played very well crashing the boards and showing his sweet stroke by hitting a few shots. He also played well defensively causing a few turnovers. Hunter was on the floor for much of the 3rd and 4th quarters.
It took some time for Isaiah Thomas to get going as he struggled with his shot for much of the first half but he bounced back and got going after he hit a few free throws.
David Lee showed some of his offensive ability by going with his back to the basket in the fourth quarter showing off some nice moves. Tonight was Lee's first double digit scoring effort of the season.
Image Credit: AP Photo/Tom Lynn
Follow Kevin Yazhari on Twitter: @KevKevYazhari
