Celtics lose a nail biter at home vs the Bucks, 103-100
With a slight lead above the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference standings, Boston gave that up and lost in a tough one to the Milwaukee Bucks, 103-100.
The first half was a fairly even game with Milwaukee definitely playing some of their best basketball of the season. The Bucks got out to a 14-4 lead before the Celtics called timeout and figured things out and made the rest of the half a pretty even contest. Boston went into halftime down 55-49. A big complaint from the coaching staff was the long scoring lull when Isaiah Thomas was off the floor and it caused some serious miscommunication for the team on offense.
The Celts responded and came out of halftime firing on all cylinders and outscored the Bucks by 28-25 in the quarter to make it a three point game going into the fourth. Isaiah Thomas once again led the Celtics in scoring and got hot in the second half of the game to put Boston in great position to win the. However, for the Bucks, Khris Middleton, Malcolm Brogdon and Giannis Antetokounmpo had other ideas and all put in a great effort for Milwaukee.
Down the stretch, Isaiah Thomas hit some big shots and Marcus Smart once again made some incredible plays and rebounds to give Boston some great 2nd chance points. However, it was Milwaukee's rookie Malcolm Brogdon who hit a big time shot over the suffocating defense of Avery Bradley to put the Bucks up by 3 points with 3 seconds left in the game. It wasn't Brogdan's only big shot of the game as he'd hit some tough floaters and layups in the fourth to keep Milwaukee's lead intact. With a chance to tie the game up out of a timeout, Boston tried to inbound the ball to Isaiah but he bobbled it and tipped it to Smart who heaved up a desperation three that wouldn't fall for the Green. Tough way to lose a game that was very winnable, but the ball didn't bounce the Celts way tonight.
For the Celtics, Isaiah Thomas led all scorers with 32 points and set the record for most three pointers made by any Celtic in a season, passing Antoine Walker. Marcus Smart had a double double with 11 points and 11 rebounds to go along with 5 assists. For the Milwaukee Bucks, the Greek Freak had 22 points, 9 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 blocks while his teammates Khris Middleton and Malcolm Brogdon chipped in 19 points and 16 points respectively.
Boston is now tied with Cleveland atop the standings in first place and retains a 1.5 game lead over Washington. Next up for the Celtics is a Friday night matchup against the Orlando Magic here in Boston. Tipoff is set for 7:30pm E/T.
Image Credit: NBA Twitter/Getty Images
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