Boston sweeps season series over Milwaukee, Celtics win 111-105 vs. Bucks

After a win over the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday, the Celtics continue their 4 game home stand tonight in a primetime matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks. This is the third and final game of the season series with the Bucks as the Celtics go for the sweep for the first time since the 2011-12 season. The Bucks have been playing some good basketball since the Celtics last saw them on November 10th, going 9-2 since their last matchup.

The Bucks have former all-star Khris Middleton making his season debut tonight after missing the first part of the season recovering from surgery on his ankles. For the Celtics, Kristaps Porzingis was ruled out tonight but Jayson Tatum is back in the lineup after sitting out Wednesday’s game.

With today being Deuce Tatum’s birthday, it felt fitting that the Celtics started their scoring with a wide open three from Jayson Tatum. The Celtics offense was cooking early, especially from Jaylen Brown, as the Bucks defense looked discombobulated. Nothing described the situation better than Brown playing full court defense against Damian Lillard which led to a Milwaukee turnover.

Khris Middleton came off the bench for Milwaukee and hit his first shot, an and-1 three over Sam Hauser. Milwaukee found their groove on offense, tying the game with an 8-0 run but never took the lead as the Celtics lead 29-27 after the first quarter. Jaylen Brown was the leading scorer for Boston after playing the entire first quarter, scoring 12 points on 5-8 shooting, while Giannis and Lillard led the Bucks with 8 points.

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Neemis Queta was the first big man off the bench tonight and made his presence known early, as he swatted a Lillard layup attempt into the 4th row. That did not detour Lillard however, as he cooked the Celtics on defense from three and in the paint for 12 points in the second quarter. Sam Hauser became the Celtics source of offense out a Boston time out as he hit a mid range jumper and a driving layup.

The Celtics three ball went cold in second quarter, as they shot 0-12 from three in the quarter. This is the first time in 130 regular season quarters the Celtics didn’t hit a three in a quarter.

The Bucks took advantage of Boston’s shooting woes and were able to grab the lead. Boston realized the three ball wasn’t working and started to attack the paint to generate points but Milwaukee took a 57-53 lead going into halftime.

Brown (18 points) and Tatum (16 points) combined for 34 points in the first half but the rest of the team seemed to struggle. Lillard’s big quarter had him leading the Bucks in scoring with 20 points as Giannis chipped in with 14 of his own. Bobby Portis had an odd stat line in the first half as he grabbed 13 rebounds but shot 2-12 from the field. Payton Pritchard would also have a surprising stat line as he scored 0 points on 0-3 shooting, making you wonder if Doc Rivers really did make it a priority to stop him. The Bucks and Celtics both finished with 7 threes in the first half, however Boston shot 7-28 (25%) while Milwaukee shot 7-13 (53.8%).

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The second half started with fireworks between Jaylen Brown and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Brown made a tough shot over Giannis, gave him the too little, and Giannis threw his elbow at Brown in response. Brown did not like that as he started to talk which resulted in a technical foul.

The intensity of the game began to rise as a result as the TD Garden crowd started to boo Giannis every time he touched the ball. Even though Al Horford snapped the Celtics missed three streak, Boston continued to struggle from behind the arc but were able to go on a 9-2 run.

Both teams continued to trade the lead throughout the third quarter as neither team was able to gain an edge. A disagreement over a foul call sent Joe Mazzulla in a rage as both teams crowed around the refs as emotions were running high.

Giannis killed the Celtics in the paint as he scored 11 points in the quarters and the Bucks took an 82-78 lead into the fourth quarter. The stars were out tonight, as Brown, Tatum, Giannis, and Lillard all had over 20 points through three quarters.

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Jayson Tatum checked into the fourth quarter and immediately scored 7 straight points in the first minute, hitting two threes including a contested and-1 over Brook Lopez.

Sam Hauser continued his impressive performance against his home town team as he drilled his 4th three of the night and finished with 16 points off the bench for Boston.

Giannis checked in with about 7 minutes to go and made his presence known as he attacked Hauser under the basket on back to back possessions to give the Bucks a 4 point lead with 5:41 to go.

With under 5 minutes to go Tatum continued to put on a show as on back to back plays he found Jrue Holiday rolling to rim out of a double team and then took a Lillard missed three coast to coast for a layup.

After Giannis missed a three, Al Horford would catch the ball at the three point line in transition, rise up, and drain a three to give the Celtics a 4 point lead with 1:28 left in the game.

Giannis would make 1-2 free throws on the next possession, and after trading missed threes, Jrue Holiday hit the dagger with a floater as the shot clock expired with 25 seconds to go. After some free throws and a Derrick White steal leading to a Horford basket, the Boston Celtics defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 111-105, completing the season sweep.

Jayson Tatum took over the game in the 4th quarter and finished with 34 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists on 12-20 shooting from the field and 4-10 from three. Jaylen Brown dropped 25 points and Jrue Holiday got his revenge on Milwaukee with 20 points including the dagger.

The Celtics next game is Saturday December 7th against the Memphis Grizzlies at 8pm as Boston welcomes back old friend Marcus Smart to TD Garden.