The Milwaukee Bucks opened their second round Eastern Conference playoff series with the Boston Celtics with an emphatic 101-89 victory at TD Garden, with the defending NBA champions putting on an extraordinary defensive effort in the home of the league’s top-ranked defensive unit.
Led by Giannis Antetokounmpo’s second career playoff triple-double (24 points, 13 rebounds, 12 assists), the Bucks won their fourth straight game without injured all-star Khris Middleton by once again going “big” with Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis in the starting lineup.
But rather than rotate in a four-wing substitution pattern as he did against Chicago in the first round, Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer kept at least one big man in the game throughout to offset Boston’s strong interior presence of Al Horford and Robert Williams III. The bigger bodies and active perimeter defense led by Jrue Holiday and Wesley Matthews harassed Celtics stars Jayson Tatum (21 points on 6 of 18 shooting) and Jaylen Brown (12 on 4 of 13) all afternoon.
Portis had a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds while Lopez added 10 rebounds, six points and three blocked shots.
Grayson Allen continued his strong play on both ends of the court for the Bucks with 11 points and three steals while Pat Connaughton (8 points) and Jevon Carter (7) joined him off the bench.
BOX SCORE: Bucks 101, Celtics 89
Game 2 is in Boston on Tuesday night at 6 p.m.
The Bucks closed out the victory by stretching a 78-70 lead at the start of the quarter to as many as 17 in the opening 5 ½ minutes thanks to a 14-5 run that saw them shut out Tatum and Brown in that period. From there, the Celtics just couldn’t muster up enough firepower – nor make enough stops – to mount a legitimate comeback.
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