The Boston Celtics reaffirmed their status as the team to defeat in the Eastern Conference, despite the possibility that the Milwaukee Bucks will receive the top spot.
Boston put on an absolutely overpowering showing in the matchup on Thursday night at Fiserv Forum. The Celtics took a 28-point advantage into halftime following a back-and-forth first period in which they tallied 41 points. After losing in Washington on Tuesday, they surged ahead by as many as 49 points to defeat the Bucks in first place by a score of 140-99.
The defeat is equal to Milwaukee’s biggest of the year.
With 40 and 30 points, respectively, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown improved upon their All-NBA seasons. Malcoln Brogdon and Al Horford both scored 14 points in addition.
With 24 points, Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks but was restrained as the two-time MVP fired 11-for-27 from the floor. The next-highest scorer for Milwaukee was Khris Middleton, who totaled 13 points.
The Celtics still have five regular-season games left. On Friday, they play the Utah Jazz in the second game of a back-to-back at home.
Here are three fast lessons to be learned from Thursday’s thrashing of the Bucks.
A total 180
What a change two days can make. The same squad that fell by 19 points to the inferior Wizards on Tuesday went to Milwaukee to defeat the Bucks by 41.
Boston held Milwaukee to a field goal percentage of just 37.6 percent after permitting Washington to score 54.5 percent from the field. The Bucks had trouble making 3-pointers throughout the entire game, making 14 of their final 43 attempts (32.6 percent). They failed all 11 of their tries in the second period and were 3-of-22 from three at the break.
Both the defence and the scoring of the Celtics improved. They made 56 percent of their field goals, hitting 22 for 43 (51.2 percent) from beyond the arc after only making 11 for 44 against the Wizards.
The Celtics this season come in two distinctly different forms. The iteration that plays in the NBA finals in 2023 is what fans will be hoping for on Thursday.
On a large platform, C’s idols perform once more
When the stakes are highest against their fiercest conference rival, you don’t have to fear about the Celtics’ champions turning up.
In their win over Milwaukee on Christmas Day, Tatum and Brown scored a combined 70 points. They performed again on national broadcast on Thursday, earning, you got it, 70 total points.
On 12-of-18 shooting, Tatum scored 40 points. The four-time All-Star had recently struggled to make 3-pointers, but this time he erupted with eight successful 3s on 10 tries.
Brown scored 20 of his 30 points in the first half, including 17 in the opening period. By making 13 of 20 shots from the field, including three of five from three points, he highlighted his All-NBA case.
The figures for Tatum and Brown could have been even higher, but the lopsided victory enabled Joe Mazzulla to rest his players for the full fourth quarter. The time for that recovery is ideal because Boston’s contest on Friday night at TD Garden is the second of a back-to-back.
Robert Williams demonstrates his significance.
Rob Williams’ ability to alter games on both sides of the court is well known by the Celtics and their supporters. However, he provided a warning of Time Lord’s significance on Thursday, just in case anyone else needed it.
With his enthusiasm, Williams established the tone and made the most of his 19 minutes on the floor. He intimidated the Bucks at the basket and on the boards (seven offensive rebounds). (four blocks).
For a total of seven points off the bench, Williams made all three of his attempts. Fans of the C’s should be thrilled about the opportunity to see the 25-year-old at full power this time around because he wasn’t fully fit for the team’s postseason success last year.
updating seeds
Tatum refuses to acknowledge it, but the Celtics are undoubtedly cursing themselves for that embarrassing defeat to the Wizards. It might end up making the difference between the top spot and the second seed.
In spite of their victory on Thursday, the C’s are still in the running for the top spot. They won the shootout over the Bucks and are now only behind in the rankings by two games. But with only five games remaining in the regular season, they might need to win them all to stand a chance of securing home-court advantage in the postseason.
Boston now has a 2.5-game advantage over the Philadelphia 76ers in third place. The squad faces the Jazz, Sixers, Toronto Raptors (twice), and Atlanta Hawks in its final four games of the year.
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