NBA regular season

Celtics dismantle Bucks in Christmas duel of top East teams

Reuters

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Celtics dismantle Bucks in Christmas duel of top East teams

TOP PLAYERS. Jayson Tatum (right) outduels Giannis Antetokounmpo in an emphatic Celtics win over the Bucks.

Gregory Fisher/USA TODAY Sports/Reuters

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combine for 70 points in a game for the eighth time in their careers as the Celtics hand the Bucks their third straight loss

Jayson Tatum posted his fifth straight 30-point game, leading the Boston Celtics with 41 en route to a 139-118 Christmas Day win over the visiting Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday, December 25 (Monday, December 26, Manila time).

Tatum and Jaylen Brown (29 points) combined for 70 points in a game for the eighth time in their careers. Tatum added 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals as Boston won back-to-back games.

Derrick White, Grant Williams, and Al Horford also scored in double figures, helping Boston shoot 19 of 39 from three-point range.

Marcus Smart handed out 8 assists.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had a team-high 27 points, while Jrue Holiday finished with 23, Brook Lopez scored 16, and Massachusetts native Pat Connaughton added 15 on 4 three-pointers in Milwaukee’s third straight loss.

Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis each pulled in 9 rebounds and Holiday also dished out 7 assists.

After Boston led by just a point at halftime, Tatum posted a 20-point third quarter to help the Celtics build a 14-point lead.

Tatum and Horford hit from downtown as the Celtics opened the second half on an 8-2 run. Following a Bucks timeout, Tatum hit 3 of the hosts’ 5 straight field goals to help increase the score to 87-78. Connaughton had 8 straight Milwaukee points in the midst.

The entire Bucks team only outscored Tatum by 5 in the quarter and it was a 100-86 game entering the final frame after a Grant Williams corner trey.

Joe Ingles hit a running three-pointer as Milwaukee closed to 9 early in the fourth, but Williams bookended a 10-0 Celtics run with three-pointers to make it 110-91. Brown later scored 10 straight points to help put the game out of reach.

The Celtics shot 7 of 9 over the first 4:03. Tatum and Brown hit back-to-back triples to cap an 8-0 run, turning a 12-11 deficit into a 19-12 lead and forcing Milwaukee to call a timeout.

Milwaukee used a 10-3 run to get within 30-28 late in the first. Brown followed with a pullup three-pointer and Hauser banked in a deep triple at the buzzer, extending Boston’s lead to 36-28.

Shortly after an 8-0 Milwaukee run, Tatum responded with a hammer dunk over Antetokounmpo with 5:07 left before halftime.

Boston’s lead was just 62-61 at the break, as Lopez hit a fadeaway with 2.8 seconds left before Brown missed 3 foul shots. – Rappler.com

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