Boston visited the Fiserv Forum on Good Friday to take on the Milwaukee Bucks. This one, was not a close game from the opening tip, as the Boston Celtics had a balanced scoring output from multiple C’s players. Brown, Queta, Tatum, Hauser, White and Pritchard all scored in double figures as the C’s rolled to a big 133-101 win, their 52nd win of the season.
Milwaukee came into the game with a string of injuries across the roster, with Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bobby Portis, Kevin Porter Jr., Gary Trent,
and Ryan Rollins all ruled out prior to the tip. Boston is basically at full strength heading toward the playoffs with Nikola Vucevic the only Celtics player sidelined with a finger injury.
The Celtics started Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Sam Hauser, Jayson Tatum, and Neemias Queta. For the Bucks, they started AJ Green, Kyle Kuzma, Ousmane Dieng, Pete Nance, and Myles Turner.
Boston rattled off 7 quick points to start the game; Queta had 5 early points, and Hauser converted his first three-pointer of the game. An AJ Johnson triple opened the scoring for the home team, Boston up 8-3 after three minutes of action. Tatum hit his first shot of the game with a triple, Derrick White with the assist. Recent HOF nominee Doc Rivers wanted an early timeout called and was ignored; in classic Doc Rivers fashion, he let the crew officials know about it.
Sam Hauser nailed a wide-open corner triple off the JB assist; Boston was also playing stellar D to start the game, with four early blocked shots. Hauser rattled in his 3rd triple of the game off another JB dime; he had 9 points with 7 and a half minutes to go in the first quarter.
Tatum dribbled into the key and fed Queta for the mini hook shot, putting Neemias in double figures with 11 points to start the game. Boston in cruise control with a 26-10 lead. Jaylen Brown drew contact from Sims on a physical drive to the rim; he had a contact lens issue as a result of the contact. The All-NBA first-team candidate is hitting just 1-2 from the line. Brown had a step-back triple for his first field goal of the game.
Joe Mazzulla won a successful challenge on a foul call, as Jericho Sims pushed Queta from behind into the Milwaukee offensive player. Tatum hit a three-pointer on a pull-up off another Derrick White assist, with the Celtics in complete control throughout the first quarter. Tatum returned the favor, assisting on his 5th successful pass of the game, D. White converting the triple. Boston had a 17-point lead after a quarter of play, up 43-26.
Tatum started the second quarter alongside Luka Garza, Payton Pritchard, Baylor Scheierman, and Derrick White. Pritchard hit back-to-back buckets for five quick points to start the second quarter. Payton bounced a lovely dime to Garza for a hook in the lane. Pritchard followed that up with another triple and a lovely step through off the backboard, the feisty guard going for 10 points in just the first 4 minutes of play in the second half.
Milwaukee was shooting the ball pretty well; they were 6-13 from three, keeping the C’s scoring barrage from ballooning out to 20 points. Jaylen Brown drove past a pair of Milwaukee defenders, hitting the team’s 59th point of the game on a reverse layup, Boston up 59-41 with 5 minutes and change to go in the half. Brown hit a mid-range fadeaway over AJ Green; he then hit a three-pointer. He had 13 points and counting.
Tatum had 14 points, 5 boards, and 8 assists in the first half; Boston was a +21 with JT on the court after a half of play. The Celtics held a comfortable 20-point lead at the halftime break, 75-55, highlighted by 28 points in the paint.
It was one-way traffic as Boston raced out to a 10-1 start to the third quarter. Tatum was spearheading the C’s dominance; he had 20 points in just 23 minutes of action. Boston held a 31-point lead at the halfway mark of the third quarter, with Boston up 92-61.
Joe Mazzulla kept his foot on the gas, playing Tatum and Brown extended 3rd quarter minutes likely to rest them going into the fourth quarter. Tatum was on triple-double watch to end the third quarter; he was hunting a final assist to end the third as Pritchard missed a buzzer beater. Boston up 105-76 after three quarters.
Brown and Tatum sat to start the fourth quarter, the pair likely done for the night. Boston had Walsh, Scheierman, Queta, White, and Pritchard on to start the final stanza. Pritchard and Walsh kept the scoreboard ticking for Boston, Bassey replacing Queta to finish things out in Milwaukee. He finished a strong alley-oop pass from a Pritchard lob, his first score of the game.
Ron Harper Jr. replaced Payton Pritchard with 5 minutes to go in the game, Boston still up by 30 points, 125-95. Hugo Gonzalez joined in the action to wrap things up, Milwaukee playing the other two Antetokounmpo brothers as the game winded down.
Boston now travels home to face the Raptors on Easter Sunday in the matinee time slot of 3:30pm.
