The Celtics beat the Bucks by suffering to finish – El Nuevo Diario (Dominican Republic)

EL NUEVO DIARIO, BOSTON, USA – The Boston Celtics beat the Milwaukee Bucks (119-116) on Wednesday in a game that they controlled for most of the time, but were on the verge of losing at the end, reported this Thursday the local press.

In the first meeting in which the East leaders met this season, the Celtics (12-3) had just lost against the Hornets on Monday in overtime (118-121) after 6 straight victories and without Derrick White or the Dominican Al Horford.

The Bucks (10-4) saw their 5-game winning streak end.

For the Celtics, Jaylen Brown had 26 points, 2 rebounds, 8 assists and a steal while Jayson Tatum achieved a double double of 23 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists and a block.

Kristaps Porzingis had 21 points, 6 rebounds and an assist, Derrick White had 13 points, Al Horford 11, and Sam Hauser and Payton Pritchard 10 each.

The Bucks’ top scorer was Brooks López with 28 points, 7 rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block. Giannis Antetokounmpo had a double double of 21 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals. Damian Lillard had 27 points and Khris Middleton 12.

The Celtics dominate in triples

A dunk and two triples from Brown and a basket from Tatum made the score 10-0 two and a half minutes into the game.

Boston coach Joe Mazzulla has insisted since his arrival last year that his players shoot more threes.

Two triples from White and one from Horford gave the home team a 13-point lead (21-8).

After an exchange of triples between Hauser, coming off the bench, and Lillard, the overwhelming first quarter for the Celtics ended 29-17.

Beginning the second quarter, the exchange of triples continued, this time between Cameron Payne and Horford, and another from Hauser underpinned the initial Celtic dominance (37-26).

Bucks coach Adrian Griffin, who is still trying to adjust the defense of one of the contenders to win the ring, called the first timeout when Tatum reached his 10 points (39-26).

MarJon Beauchamp, who had missed the previous three games due to injury, tried to cut back with several two-pointers and a triple, but long shots from Pritchard and Tatum defended the Celtics’ lead (45-31).

Another three-pointer from Pritchard gave the home team their biggest lead so far (51-31).

Two triples by Porzingis in 16 seconds opened the wound for the Bucks (61-42).

The Latvian center formerly of Sevilla hooked furiously on the rim twice in 17 seconds to maintain the advantage (65-45) but Antetokounmpo (10 points) and Lopez (14) managed to reduce the difference at halftime (67-53) .

In the first half, the Celtics made 12 of 23 triples compared to the Bucks’ 6 of 17 attempts.

Triples by Tatum and Brown and an alley-oop dunk by Porzingis counteracted the successes of López and Antetokounmpo in the first minutes of the third segment.

The Bucks could not organize themselves on defense while Brown took advantage of all the gaps (84-70).

The Bucks’ defense closed, but when the home team’s lead began to be cut, Brown reached his 24 points and assisted Porzingis in another ‘alley-oop’ that left the score at 94-79 at the end of the third quarter.

A sensational play by Porzingis, who ended up hanging from the rim, showed Celtic dominance, and Jrue Holiday’s first basket, who debuted with a triple in the final quarter, confirmed it (99-79).

The Bucks did not give up and began to cut the lead at the last minute. Lillard closed the gap from 2 to 10 (109-99) and kept it from triple (112-102).

A triple from Middleton brought the score closer and another from Lillard adjusted it to 114-111 with 44 seconds left. Free throws from Tatum and Holiday confirmed the Celtics’ victory despite a buzzer-beating triple by Malik Beasley (119-116).

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