Isaiah Thomas led the way, as usual, with 37 points, the Celtics got strong games from Jae Crowder, Kelly Olynyk and Marcus Smart, and Amir Johnson shined in overtime as the shorthanded Celtics won their third straight game, 112-108, over the Bucks in Milwaukee. Boston’s record is now 29-18, tied with Toronto for second-best in the East.
The Game Flow:
Playing their fourth game in five nights, the Cs were again without Avery Bradley (Achilles), and Al Horford also missed his second straight game with a strained groin. But they started fast, racing to a 13-2 lead in the first three minutes, then closed the period with an 8-0 run. Crowder had 11 points and Thomas had 10. The Cs also recorded assists on 11 of their 12 baskets. Michael Beasley, who averages 8.6 points per game, kept the Bucks alive with 11 out-of-nowhere points off the bench. But the Bucks’ front line of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jabari Parker and Thon Maker were scoreless on a combined 0-8 shooting. The Cs were up 15 when Gerald Green swished a buzzer-beater three.
The second quarter wasn’t so smooth at first. The bench unit spent the first four minutes missing shots, throwing the ball away, and allowing Milwaukee dunks. With the lead down to 10, Brad Stevens called an angry timeout. The teams went the next several minutes trading hoops. Malcolm Brogdon sparked the Bucks in the second with eight points. But the Bucks couldn’t do anything with IT, who finished the half with 23 points on super-efficient 5-7 shooting (4-6 from the arc) and 9-9 at the line. One of his threes was so deep and high-arching that Mike Gorman broke out a “Get outta here!” The teams headed to the locker room with Boston up, 64-53.
The Bucks made a move in the third when Crowder went to the bench with his fourth foul, and Giannis awoke with back-to-back and-ones. Maker blocked Jaylen Brown’s layup, then scored consecutive hoops in close, and the lead was down to 69-64. Smart then absolutely swallowed up Maker’s layup attempt, and Milwaukee went three minutes without a field goal as Boston rebuilt a 10-point lead. Both teams went cold over the final few minutes, and the quarter ended with the Cs up, 81-73.
In the fourth, Milwaukee kept coming as the Celts appeared to tire. A few missed free throws allowed the Bucks to climb back and finally tie it on a Giannis triple with just under seven minutes left. A second-chance three-point play by Greg Monroe gave the Bucks their first lead of the game with 4:54 remaining, but IT answered with a trey to retake a two-point lead. Jaylen finished a drive over Giannis, then canned a huge corner three, and Cs led by five with less than three minutes remaining. Boston then went cold, including an IT layup that spun out. Monroe scored five straight points to tie it, but missed a free throw that would’ve given the Bucks the lead with 36.8 seconds left.
Incredibly, both teams committed turnovers and it came down to a final possession in which Isaiah back-rimmed a contested three and Jaylen’s desperation floater missed at the horn. 102 all, overtime.
Everything looked good when the Cs scored the first six of OT: Smart’s driving left-handed layup, Johnson’s hook shot, and Olynyk’s dunk (in which he caught an uncalled elbow to the head). But when they had a chance to put it away, the Celts twice missed open shots. Milwaukee’s Tony Snell then drained consecutive transition threes to tie it at 108 with 1:13 left. IT missed on a drive, but Amir snagged the rebound and Crowder was fouled taking the ball to the hoop. He swished both for a two-point advantage, 28.8 on the clock.
The Bucks isolated Giannis, but Smart forced him to miss his driving shot, and Amir grabbed another monster board. Crowder was intentionally fouled and he made both again with 10.2 left. Jason Terry missed from the arc and the Celts had hung on.
After scoring 42 points in the first – their best quarter of the season – the Celts tallied just 39 total points in the second and third quarters combined.
Also: Milwaukee coach Jason Kidd. I hate that jerk.
Marcus on defense. Wow!
Marcus blocks a 7-footer on one end and IT finishes over a 7-footer on the other! https://t.co/2Jz7ZYAqTx
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) January 29, 2017
Bonus Red’s Cigar goes to John Karalis, who trekked from his east coast home to attend this Celtics game. Milwaukee in January is far from a tourist destination, but John is crazy obsessed with basketball.
Not bad in here pic.twitter.com/mzGGBfO59h
— John Karalis 🇬🇷 🇺🇦 (@John_Karalis) January 29, 2017
We’ve seen so many IT scoring highlights, tonight let’s look at this sweet pass on an after-timeout play.
IT finds Kelly for the reverse alley-oop slam! https://t.co/AOnUdrsH4Z
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) January 29, 2017
The Grid:
- Isaiah Thomas: 37 points on 11-21 shooting, plus eight assists. He had eight points in the fourth but none in OT.
- Jae Crowder: 20 points and team-high +14.
- Kelly Olynyk: 17 points on 7-12 shooting.
- Giannis Antetokounmpo: 21 points on 8-16 shooting.
- Jabari Parker: A no-show with 4 points, 2-13 from the floor.
- Despite a significant size disadvantage, the Celts were outrebounded by just 47-44.
- Celtics are now 8-3 on the road on second nights of back-to-back.
- Thon Maker, who came to America as a refugee from Sudan, made his second career start for Milwaukee. The Bucks were in Toronto Friday night and the team made it back to the U.S. in time for the rookie to avoid any immigration problems. Sudan is one of the seven Muslim-majority countries whose citizens are banned from entering the US for the next 90 days. Fortunately, Maker was not detained.
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