The night before Thanksgiving, the Boston Celtics played host to a showdown of the top Eastern Conference teams. Looking to bounce back from their loss in Charlotte, earlier in the week, the Celtics were laser-focused coming into their matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks – who were on a five-game win streak.
With an opportunity to seize the No. 1 spot in the Eastern Conference standings, the Bucks had a lot to prove. It was also the first meeting between two teams with new players in their starting line-ups. So, how did play out?
Milwaukee’s slow start was a disservice to their mission of keeping their streak alive. Boston came out firing, scoring the game’s first ten points! The Bucks couldn’t answer until Malik Beasley drained a three-pointer at the 8:47 mark in the first quarter. Boston’s offensive tempo, however, was too much of a strenuous pace as the Bucks faced deficits as large as 21 points in the first three-quarters of the game.
They had a chance to close the gap and take the lead late in the fourth, but couldn’t get over the hump. Milwaukee’s slow start proved to be costly. Despite Brook Lopez’s big night, with 28 points, Damian and Giannis had a pretty quiet night. Not even a single reserve on their roster scored in double figures.
For Boston, however, Jaylen Brown had a big night, finishing with 26 points, while Jayson Tatum logged in 23 points – despite not feeling well prior to the game. Kristaps Porzingis added 21 points while Derrick White had 11. Boston’s starting five carried the team offensively as coach Joe Mazzulla stuck to an eight-man rotation. Sam Hauser, Payton Pritchard, and Al Horford combined for 31 points.
