Damian Lillard #0 of the Milwaukee Bucks drives against Jaylen Brown #7 of the Boston Celtics during the first quarter at TD Garden on March 20, 2024, in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo: Adam Glanzman/Getty Images.) BOSTON – Jayson Tatum scored 31 points on Wednesday night to help the Boston Celtics win their eighth straight game, defeating the Milwaukee Bucks 122-119.

 

Boston’s Payton Pritchard added 19 points and six rebounds off the bench, including 10 points in the second quarter to match Milwaukee’s total. In the second quarter, he also grabbed four rebounds, including an offensive board that he took from Brook Lopez, who stands a full foot taller. 

Derrick White ended with 23 points and eight assists, while Jaylen Brown added 21 points and eight rebounds for Boston.

Damian Lillard tallied 32 points, including a three-pointer in the final seconds. Bobby Portis had 24 points and 15 rebounds for the Bucks, who had won two in a row.

 

Although the game was between Eastern Conference division leaders, the Celtics led the second-seeded Bucks by 11 games in the quest for home-court advantage. Any optimism surrounding the potential playoffs preview was crushed when Antetokounmpo was ruled out for the second game in a row due to a left hamstring ailment.It was 10 all when the Celtics scored 13 of the next 15 points to build an 11-point lead. The Bucks cut the deficit to two at the end of the first quarter, but Boston used a 21-8 run in the second quarter, including 10 points by Pritchard, to build an 18-point lead.

Pritchard, who was presumably annoyed by Milwaukee’s Patrick Beverley’s “too small” gesture, led the quarter in assists (three) and rebounds (four), including one steal off Lopez. Frustrated, the 7-foot-1 center pushed him away in disgust.

Pritchard celebrated by flexing his biceps and shaking hands with Kristaps Porzingis, while Tatum waved his arms to rally the crowd, who rose to give the 6-foot-1 point guard a standing ovation. Boston led by as many as 21 points, but the Bucks did not get inside single digits until the final minutes, when they scored 10 straight points — eight of them from Portis, including back-to-back deep 3-pointers — to reduce a 13-point lead to one possession.

However, after Portis missed a three-pointer, Tatum scored two free throws before driving for a layup, making the score 114-107 with 1:38 remaining.

Antetokounmpo also missed the Bucks’ 140-129 home victory over Phoenix on Sunday. He has missed five games this season, and the Brewers are 3-2 without him.

This season, the 29-year-old Greek star is third in the NBA in scoring (30.8), sixth in rebounding (11.2), and fifteenth in assists (6.4).