Category: Sports News

The Dallas Mavericks fell again at home on Friday night, losing to the Orlando Magic 138-127. Wendell Carter Jr. led a balanced Magic scoring attack with 28. Cooper Flagg put up 51 points in defeat for Dallas, becoming the first teenager to ever score over 50 in an NBA game.

The opening period in Dallas saw the Magic score early, often, and easily from the field. The team shot 65% from the floor with contributions spread evenly across the board. The Mavericks hung in largely through fantastic three-point shooting; the team hit five of 10 attempts in the opening quarter. Dallas trailed the Magic after 12 minutes, 38-31.

Klay Thompson seemed hellbent on keeping Dallas in this one, hitting his third and fourth threes of the game early in the quarter under extreme duress. The Mavericks eventually picked up Klay’s energy and Cooper Flagg and Naji took control of the game, rallying Dallas back to within three halfway through the period. But after tying the game at 53, Dallas got stuck offensively, committing a variety of turnovers paired with many missed shots. The Magic slowly pushed ahead as the Mavericks could not get out of their own way, ending the half trailing, 71-58.

As has been the pattern in the third quarter, Dallas got ground down to dust. The Magic scored at will on a Dallas defense devoid of principles in the halfcourt. Cooper Flagg at least put on a scoring binge, so that was fun, but the Mavericks entered the fourth down 111-92.

The final frame was chaotic; Jason Kidd was ejected arguing a horrible no call on a Cooper Flagg drive and Naji Marshall earned a technical as well. Despite Dallas being down 25 or more points, Dallas went on a Flagg-led run to close the lead some, forcing an Orlando timeout. This is the same team that allowed a 31-0 run from the Raptors just last month. But, despite Flagg’s performance, Dallas just couldn’t get stops to make a real dent in the lead. Watching Flagg operate was awesome though.

For Cooper Flagg, there is no ceiling

We’ve talked about Cooper all year, his shooting, his defense, his growth as a play maker. He’s a star in the making and if you’re still grinding out these Mavericks games with us, you’re going to be able to say you saw him way back when one day.

Tonight’s offensive performance from Flagg is a rallying call for those Mavs fans in your life who are checked out because the season’s been awful or who haven’t watched a game since the Luka trade. I get it, it’s not been easy. But this is special, very special and I want other people to join us here. We should have a whole post on this scoring performance at some point.

Tonight, the three point shot made the difference, as he hit six of nine attempts. That’s going to be what turns him from a good to great scorer and while it won’t happen over night, it will happen. He’s too good.

Shout out to Frank Vogel for his timeout usage. He helped get Flagg spots of rest so that he could go for that scoring number.

The Nets suffered a 141-107 beating at the hands of Atlanta before a sellout crowd of 17,548 at Barclays Center.

Brooklyn (18-59) remained tied for second in the lottery race, keeping pace with Indiana. The Nets are ½-game behind first-place Washington, and two clear of Sacramento pending the Kings’ tilt with the visiting Pelicans later on Friday night.

Center Nic Claxton had a team-high 16 points and five rebounds, while Malachi Smith added 15 off the bench.

Guard Trevon Scott, inked on a 10-day contract, had six points in his debut. Noah Clowney was ejected with 5:35 left in the third quarter.

CJ McCollum had a game-high 25 points for the Hawks, who have won 19 of 22.

Brooklyn committed 20 turnovers and got outscored 35-11 on giveaways. 

“Yeah, obviously [they have] high-level perimeter defenders; but poor execution on our end,” hrad coach Jordi Fernández said. “We just were not good enough, starting with the guys that bring the ball up the floor and try to get us into something organized. It was very poor. And you see it right there; the difference is 24 points of turnovers. [That’s] the big difference in a game that you should’ve had a chance to compete.”

Michael Porter Jr. and rookie Danny Wolf both went from presumably out for the season to officially ruled out by Fernández.

“Yeah, well, obviously you guys know Day’Ron [Sharpe] is out. With Mike and Danny, based on where we are right now — and based on where they’re at with their rehab, and we only have one week left — they’ll be out just from where they are,” Fernández said. “So that’s the update of those two.”

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It’s an update that will shock no one.

Porter hasn’t played since March 10, suffering from a strained left hamstring. He’ll end his season averaging a career-high 24.2 points on 46.3/36.3/85.9 shooting splits.

Wolf, the last of Brooklyn’s record five first-round picks, sprained his ankle March 22 and will end his rookie campaign averaging 8.9 points and 4.9 rebounds. He raised that to 10.8 points and 5.6 boards in his final 22 games.

“Yeah, they both have been very positive stories for us,” Fernández said. “[Wolf] being a rookie showed he belongs, and he’s been able to do very different things. Danny, from shooting the ball to playmaking to rebounding to being that primary ballhandler, playing off the ball, different lineups, I’m very happy with him.

“Obviously efficiency is important. We believe he’s a very good shooter. His playmaking efficiency has gotten better from college. And then defensively. … He surprised a lot of people. He didn’t surprise us. We felt like he could do all those things and keep bodies in front, keep guys in front of the ball and guard smaller guys. So he’s been very, very good.

“And then Michael in a new situation, being on the same team for seven years on a championship team and now having a different role, a different situation, everything has been also very positive. He’s played at an All-Star level. In my opinion, he should’ve been an All-Star. Now I want him to come back and have a chip on his shoulder, lead the team the way he’s been doing.”

Porter could be traded this summer. He’s also eligible for an extension of up to four years, $243 million, though would certainly command far less. Asked what Porter had shown the organization, Fernández said, “For that you’ve got to ask Sean [Marks, GM]. But me personally, he’s been put in a different role and he’s performed very well. He’s represented himself and the club very well.”

The Nets signed Trevon Scott to a 10-day contract. … Nic Claxton and Noah Clowney were upgraded to available against the visiting Hawks.

In the midst of the Bucks’ Friday night contest against the Celtics, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that the NBA is investigating the team for “their handling of the player participating policy and potential inconsistent statements regarding the health of Giannis Antetokounmpo.” Shams added that the Bucks and Giannis have given conflicting accounts of his health.

“Milwaukee informed the NBA that it doesn’t believe Giannis is ready and actually wants to play; Giannis informed the NBA he wants to play but the team will not medically clear him, sources said.”

Giannis addressed the situation with local reporters before the game and gave some rather revealing statements. Outside of fully endorsing the investigation and his frustrations with not playing, he gave some very candid thoughts on how things have transpired:

“You know who you are dealing with, so for somebody to come and tell me to not play or not to compete, it’s like a slap in my face. So, I don’t know where the relationship goes from there.”

“I don’t know what game is being played right here, I just don’t wanna be a part of it.”

As far as how this has played out behind the scenes, according to Giannis, he had an initial conversation with head coach Doc Rivers and general manager Jon Horst. He let both of them know he wanted to play, but that was the last conversation they had, and no one has approached him since. He also slapped down any notion that he doesn’t want to play again this season, citing his wish to play with his younger brother, Alex Antetokounmpo:

“I’ve heard somebody say that, ‘Oh, he says that he wants to play, but he doesn’t really want to play. First of all, I don’t know who gives you information like that… you’d be an idiot to have an opportunity to play with your brother that you’re eight years older than him.”

“When I played my first NBA game, he was 11 years old. When my dad passed, I pretty much raised him. He’s able to be on the team and suit up and chase an opportunity to be great. And you really think that I don’t want to suit up and play with my brother? Anybody that thinks that is an idiot.”

Before anyone goes into a full-blown panic, worrying that this will push a potential divide between Giannis and the Bucks, he insisted that this latest disagreement does not necessarily mean the two sides are heading toward a divorce:

“We gotta go into couples therapy… sit down, you know, tell their side, I’m going to tell my side and find a solution. Amicably, right? That’s the word. Find a solution together.”

We’ll have to wait and see what the NBA comes up with regarding this investigation, or whether the findings will come in time for Giannis to suit up again this season, but it’s clear whatever is going on has rubbed him the wrong way:

“I’ve been here 13 years and I understand the team gets eliminated from the playoffs, be smart. Taking care of your body, being in and out, just to be careful, to prepare for the next season, prepare for the next generation and the young players to get some minutes, go out there—I get that. But that wasn’t the time that this took place. That’s what bothers me. It’s almost like you waved the white flag and I don’t do that. I am sorry. I don’t. And I never, never will.”

There are a lot of different types of must-win games. Playoff games. Rivalries. Tie-breakers. Ring nights. Banner nights. Revenge games. But then there’s a must-win in the sense that your opponent is 25-51 on the season, actively tanking, and comprised of guys who may not even be in the league next year. 

Tonight was the final type of those must-win scenarios. The Toronto Raptors faced the Memphis Grizzlies, able to do what they needed to to the tune of 128 to 96. 

As the current 7-seed, Toronto would like nothing more than to avoid a play-in scenario. They don’t own the tie-breaker with Philly, which is part of why they’ve fallen, but given the outcome of their regular season games, their desired opponent would likely be Cleveland, meaning Toronto will have to make their way back above both the Sixers and the Hawks again for the 5-seed. 

Memphis has been gutted, with the majority of their starting lineup sidelined for the much of the season. They’ve had 33 different players check in at some point this year, tied (with themselves) for the most in an NBA season. To their credit, they still played with confidence and aggression, making sure the Raptors didn’t just walk away with the win. 

Cedric Coward, GG Jackson, and Javon Small, were their biggest contributors at both ends of the court. Jackson showed his physicality and athleticism to finish with 30 points and 5 rebounds. Small facilitated, ending with 14 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists. Coward, their rookie, had another solid performance with 15 points. 

For Toronto, bench play was one of the biggest highlights, with Jamal Shead playing solid minutes and finishing with 11 points and 6 rebounds. CMB flirted with a career best but ended with 19 points, and Mamu had solid backup minutes with 10 points and 6 rebounds. The bench will be such a big part of their playoff hopes, and getting everyone in and solid minutes out of many of them was encouraging. 

Of course RJ was undoubtably the best player on the court tonight. Ending with 25-3-4, he held them together when they were floundering in the first half, cashing in long range shots when needed and defending with effort. BI put up a solid 17-7-5 performance with some fantastic shooting. 

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Toronto started the game on an 11-0 run, forcing turnovers, getting out and running, and even sinking long range shots. It looked like it would be all Raptors tonight, memories of the recent 31 point run against Orlando seeming like foreshadowing for what could be an even better performance. 

But then three things happened. 

1. Memphis decided they weren’t going down easy.
2. Toronto started to get really sloppy with the ball.
3. The whistle started to get on Darko’s (and everyone else’s) nerves.

Memphis went on to tie it up and then actually earn their first lead. Falling behind seemed to be the push the Raptors needed to give some effort. RJ, CMB, and Shead led the way on a run that built Toronto a 10-point lead. 

Credit where it is due, the Grizzlies were relentless. Trying to get extra possessions, rebounding, and playing aggressive defense. In the fading minutes of the second quarter, Toronto was finally able to draw away and build a comfortable advantage. 

The second half went in Toronto’s favour as well, slowly building a bigger and bigger lead. They settled many of the mistakes they made in the first half, drawing away to the tune of a 30-point advantage. 

Throughout the contest, the bench got plenty of minutes, helping them build some confidence and rhythm going into the post season.

CMB had one of his stronger games, finding his touch around the rim and taking higher difficulty level shots without hesitation. Hi strength around the rim is one of the most fun things to watch: 

Which we got to see a decent amount of tonight:

– 

Next, Toronto faces the Boston Celtics for an afternoon game, at 3:30pm ET. 

It was a nail-biter, for sure. They needed all 14 available players to do it, but the Knicks (50*-28) managed to escape the Bulls (29-48) tonight. Things got hairy when their 47-point lead was chipped to 36 with four minutes left in the fourth, but the closing crew of Tyler Kolek, Jose Alvarado, Pacome Dadiet, Mohamed Diawara, and Ariel Hukporti managed to slam the lid on this one, 1,360-96.

Indeed, the entire available Knicks roster played tonight, and every man scored at least two points. That seems like a rare feat, no? There’s a no-prize waiting for the statistician who figures out how many times the Knicks have done that.

Karl-Anthony Towns rested a sore elbow tonight, so Mitchell Robinson (17 PTS, 11 RBS, 23 MIN) started at center. The big fella scored four early points as the Knicks zipped off on a 9-1 run, during which the Bulls missed four shots and committed two turnovers. The mismatch was obviously unfair from the jump. The tallest starting Bull was Matas Buzelis (11 PTS) at 6’8”, just tall enough to read Mitch’s chest tattoos.

From there, the Knicks built a huge early lead behind Robinson and Jalen Brunson (17 PTS, 10 AST), back after missing a game with ankle maintenance. Robinson owned the paint with putbacks, dunks, and rebounds, while Brunson kept the ball moving and the offense humming. OG Anunoby (31 PTS, 8 RBS) chipped in on both ends, showing the touch from deep, and the Knicks’ defense fueled the run with steals and easy transition points. Quoth SagaciousNLoquacious, “OGUA WENT NOVA.” Indeed. Anunoby had a monster night and has finally regained his shooting stroke, making 7-of-10 from deep overall and tying his career-best.

The guests couldn’t hit shots early, turned the ball over, and could barely see daylight in the lane. Collin Sexton (19 PTS) hit a couple threes, but his team was a disaster: sloppy possessions, poor shot selection (and poor options, thanks to active defense), and no answer for the Block Ness Monster.

The Knicks outshot the Bulls 56% to 29%, crushed them in the paint (18-2), and forced seven turnovers in the quarter. The lead reached 23 points before the quarter broke on a 38-16 score.

Our heroes shoveled more misery on their guests in the second period as Mikal Bridges (12 PTS) got into the action, and Robinson continued his stomp-Tokyo routine. A mid-quarter stretch made the affair an embarrassment, featuring turnovers by Josh Giddey (6 PTS, 5 AST, 4 TO) and Buzelis that turned into Knicks runouts. Miles McBride (6 PTS, 13 MIN) created steals that became easy points, Anunoby nailed a couple more from deep, and Brunson piled up assists.

For Chicago, Sexton and Tre Jones (13 PTS, 8 AST) provided scattered scoring, but the Bulls couldn’t stop shooting themselves in the sneakers. Guerschon Yabusele, who started the season with the Knicks, has expanded in Chicago, both in role and size. Either that or his uniform was a size too small. If your fly-by-night GLP1 company needs a spokesman, look no further. We mention him here because he made a three-pointer. Yabu finished the night with five points and four rebounds on 2-0f-9 shooting.

The lead reached 41 points, and the Knicks entered halftime with the biggest lead in franchise history, up 78-41. They shot better from the field (59% to 35%) and from deep (43% to 32%), destroyed in the paint (40 to 14), and totally controlled the glass (31-18). They’d committed just two turnovers versus 11 for Chicago, and the Knicks have turned those into a 20-0 edge in points off turnovers. Recording his first half-time double-double, Robinson had 15 points and 10 boards at the break. Anunoby led all scorers with 19, and, for the visitors, Sexton scored 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from deep.

The Bulls showed a little life coming out of halftime. Jones and Isaac Okoro (7 PTS) got downhill and scored  early, almost trimming the margin to 30. Buzelis added a couple of finishes, and there was a brief stretch where Chicago forced misses and turned them into points.

Both teams would score 31 in the third quarter. The Knicks were playing with their food. Robinson kept controlling the interior with tip-ins and rebounds, while Brunson scored a bit. For Chicago, Jones and Sexton provided most of the offense, with Buzelis contributing scattered buckets. The Bulls were better than in the first half, but not nearly clean or consistent enough to change the shape of the game. When Anunoby hit a 23’ pullup—just a toenail shy of what could have been a personal-best eighth triple—the home team sat on a 108-72 lead.

Now that three quarters had passed and the differential stood at 36, Coach Mike Brown thought it safe to send in Tyler Kolek with a blend of Jose Alvarado, Jeremy Sochan, Jordan Clarkson, and Mohamed Diawara. About time he did! Under their watch, the lead would reach 47! Sure, they were outscored by 11, but, c’mon, the lead was still 36. After that, Alvarado made sure to score, completing a full house and inspiring the Garden crowd to give our heroes a well-deserved standing ovation. 50 wins for the third straight season! That deserves a clap.

Up Next

The Knicks travel to Atlanta for a rumble with the red-hot Hawks. Safe travels, Knickerbockers.

Box Score

* Should be one more, but the NBA Cup pulled a hammy to end its season.

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.

There’s nothing like facing a couple of also-rans to get a team back on track. 

After a concerning three-game losing streak, the Knicks got the perfect tonic the past two games. They beat up on the Bulls with a 136-96 rout Friday night at Madison Square Garden.

The win clinched the Knicks’ third straight 50-win season — the first time they’ve done that since they had four straight from 1991-95 and the third time they’ve done that in franchise history. 

Amid so much discourse over slow starts, the Knicks dominated from the opening tip. They stormed out to a 20-1 lead and led by 22 after the first quarter. They shot a stellar 58.3 percent from the field and 45.5 percent from 3-point range in that first quarter as the Bulls bricked on the other end. 

By 7:41 left in the second quarter, the lead was up to 28. By halftime, it was up to 37 — their largest halftime lead in franchise history. It looked like the drills in practices where players go up against assistant coaches. Even that might be generous.

The disinterested Bulls were content to jack up low-quality shots, offer minimal resistance on defense and get out of town with another loss as they play out the string of their failed season. 

“Being able to lock in and be ready to go from the jump is key,” Jalen Brunson said. “It starts with our preparation. I think there’s still things we can do better defensively. Obviously, getting out to a lead helped us play comfortably for the rest of the game.” 

Mitchell Robinson, starting in place of the injured Karl-Anthony Towns (right elbow impingement), helped spark the Knicks’ overpowering start with 10 points, five rebounds and two steals in the first quarter.

He finished with 17 points, 11 rebounds and two steals. 

A balanced scoring attack, which had too often been missing in recent weeks, was led by OG Anunoby with 31 points — his second straight big-scoring night. He drilled seven threes, which tied a career-high. 

There was much better ball movement and cohesion, rather than different stars taking turns being aggressive in looking for their shot — something that had been a growing problem recently. Brunson was more of a distributor, recording 17 points and 10 assists. Mikal Bridges added 12 points, but missed all five 3-pointers he took. 

Jeremy Sochan surprisingly saw pretty extensive action off the bench — over Mohamed Diawara — in what was likely a tryout to stake a claim for the playoff rotation. He played 17 minutes, his most with the Knicks, and finished with seven points and eight rebounds. 

Coach Mike Brown was able to pull his starters and empty the bench for the entirety of the fourth quarter. That’s when Jose Alvarado notably saw his first action — he did not play the first three quarters. 

Neither the Bulls nor the Grizzlies, whom the Knicks beat handedly on Wednesday, are true bottom-feeders, but both are well under .500 and already eliminated from the playoff and play-in picture.

The Bulls in particular have been miserable for months after a surprisingly promising start to the season — since the start of February, they are 5-23. 

And the Knicks used the two opponents to improve the vibes around the team, at least for a few days. 

“It doesn’t matter who we’re playing, at the end of the day it’s about us,” Brown said. “I thought the guys were really good with that. … I thought we played the right way, playing with a sense of urgency and then on top of that, sharing the basketball offensively and spacing the floor the right way. 

“It was a lot of fun to watch.” 

It comes after three straight losses to playoff teams in the Hornets, Thunder and Rockets. Josh Hart had sounded the alarm, challenging his teammates to play with more of a “sense of desperation” and acknowledging that they were “not going in the right direction.” 

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But if there’s one thing the Knicks have done recently, it’s handle low-quality opposition. Since the start of March, the Knicks are now 9-0 against teams below .500. That’s compared to just 3-6 against teams above .500 during that stretch. 

And the Knicks will return to quality opposition when they face the surging Hawks along with the Celtics and Raptors their next three games. Atlanta and Toronto are both potential first-round opponents. 

“You always want your team to be playing at the highest of high cylinders,” Brown said. “Do I think we’re there right now? No. Do I have belief in this team? Yes I do. I’ve seen us play really good basketball throughout the course of the year.” 

Friday was much closer to that standard. Now back to the real tests. 

The Milwaukee Bucks got rattled by the Boston Celtics 133-101 tonight, the exact result one would expect from a contender facing a tanking squad. The C’s were led by their two stars, Jayson Tatum (23 points) and Jaylen Brown (26 points), while the Bucks were paced by Taurean Prince, who had 18.

NBA.com Box Score

Game Recap

Boston burst out of the gate with a 7-0 run in the first 90 seconds. Their second bucket came on a highlight fastbreak started by a Jayson Tatum behind-the-back outlet pass, making it clear they felt good about this matchup. From there, the visitors built their first double-digit lead by the 8:45 mark. The Bucks looked outmatched and out of it on both ends. Neemias Queta was dominating early, but Ousmane Dieng did make the big fella look mortal for a second, drilling a stepback three over him from the corner. Some botched zone defense from the Bucks helped the Celtics build a 43-26 advantage at the end of the opening dozen. 

The Bucks started to find a rhythm in the second, with Kyle Kuzma and Taurean Prince providing a spark. However, whenever Milwaukee dealt a blow, Boston hit right back. Jaylen Brown caught fire, pouring in nine points in the quarter. The shaky footing the home team had found fell out beneath them to the tune of turnovers and many defensive lapses. Boston’s gap increased to 75-55 by intermission.

The Celtics kicked off the second half with a 10-1 jaunt before Myles Turner gave Milwaukee a quick breath of air with a three-ball from the top of the key. The breath was indeed quick, though, as the 2024 champs kept pouring it on. Tatum, Brown, and Payton Pritchard were all in a groove, a difficult combination to stop for any team in the association, let alone the undermanned 30-46 Bucks. To make things worse, with five minutes left in the third, Ousmane Dieng went down clutching his ankle and limped his way back to the locker room. He did not return. The score was 105-76 Boston heading into the final frame.

The fourth quarter saw Cormac Ryan check back in after getting some stitches on his lip, and he banged a triple shortly after his return. AJ Green added a few long balls as well. Other than that, this was your typical end to a blowout, with the end-of-bench guys getting some burn for both sides, including Thanasis and Alex Antetokounmpo for the Bucks.

Stat That Stood Out

The Celtics pummeled the Bucks on the interior, winning the paint point differential 56-22.