After putting up two straight wins at home against the Philadelphia 76ers, and the Phoenix Suns, the Milwaukee Bucks faced their toughest challenge thus far. As we get closer to the end of the 2024 NBA regular season, each matchup is important as many team’s playoff implications are affected. With a chance to showcase why they have an opportunity to win the Eastern Conference, the Bucks desperately needed to pull off this rigorous win against the top-seeded Boston Celtics.
By the end of three quarters, Milwaukee faced an 18-point deficit. Even with the Bucks outscoring the Celtics 36-21 during the final 12 minutes of action, it just was not enough as Boston walked away with a 122-119 home win over one of their fiercest rivals the last few seasons, giving them their seventh straight win. The Celtics improve to 55-14, taking an 11-game lead over the second-seeded 44-25 Bucks.
Milwaukee Bucks Late Surge Cannot Overcome the Celtics 122-119 Win
Both teams started out of the gate strong, but by the time six minutes passed by, the Celtics held their first double-digit lead of the night. With no Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Bucks relied on Damian Lillard as their primary scorer. Even though Milwaukee was down five after one-quarter of play, the signs of this lopsided game were shown early on. Lillard finished the first quarter with four points after going two for six from the field. The most effective Bucks player during those first 12 minutes was Khris Middleton, who went three for three from the field with eight points. This is the second game since coming back against Phoenix the other night from his 16-game absence.
Even though these two teams shot efficiently during the second quarter, some key factors gave Boston the upper hand once again. First, Milwaukee committed five turnovers compared to Boston’s one. The Celtics also went 14 for 21 from the field while the Milwaukee Bucks went nine for 16. The more shot opportunities allowed the Boston Celtics to take a 15-point lead at one point, and finish this first half with an eight-point lead.
Khris Middleton and Damian Lillard went into the locker room with 13 points each. Although Middleton shot the ball well, he still had three turnovers, while Lillard shot 40 percent from the floor. For the Celtics, Jayson Tatum led all scorers with 23 points. Three Celtics scored double-digit points after two-quarters of action.
The Milwaukee Bucks tried to scramble back into this matchup, but six minutes into the third quarter, the Celtics held a 15-point lead. A few minutes later, Boston would hold their biggest lead of the night at 21 points. As the Bucks headed into this fourth quarter down 101-83, they knew something had to be done, a statement had to be made against this overpowering Celtics team.
During the fourth quarter, the Bucks went on a 36-21 run. They shot 56 percent from the field, 45 percent from three, and grabbed 13 rebounds. The Boston Celtics went five for 18 from the floor, shot 33 percent from downtown, and pulled down 10 rebounds. With less than three minutes remaining, the Bucks jumped out from being down almost 20 points to make it just a three-point deficit. Tatum scored eight of his team’s 12 points to seal another Boston Celtics win.
Jayson Tatum dropped 31 points. Four other Boston Celtics would finish with double-digit points. Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis, and Payton Prichard dropped a combined 80 points in the late-game victory. Damian Lillard ended up with a game-high of 32 points. He added along six rebounds, four assists, a steal, and a block. Bobby Portis Jr. scored 24, while Khris Middleton recorded 22 points in the heartbreaking loss. Milwaukee will come into Brooklyn tonight and face the Nets as they hope to regain the momentum they had on their two-game win streak.