The Bucks were aiming for their fifth straight victory Tuesday night, but the stifling defense of the Boston Celtics blocked them from any chance.
Isaiah Thomas dropped 20 points and five other Celtics scored in double digits.
The combination of a strong defense and a bench that outplayed Milwaukee was the duo that propelled the Celtics to victory. The Bucks had no answers for either of those two assets.
Boston used its lockdown defense in the third quarter to pull away with the game and never look back, as the Celtics went on a 16-0 run in the period. Boston was up 58-57, but then a pair of threes from Jonas Jerebko and Jae Crowder. The run was finished with an Evan Turner breakaway dunk off of an intercepted pass from Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The lead would remain 11 or more the rest of the game, as the closes the Bucks would get was 82-71 after a Jabari Parker layup with 8:25 left in the court.
Another key implementation in Boston’s path to victory was the magnificent play from their bench, which outscored the Bucks’ bench, 50-25. Their solid contributions were led by David Lee and Evan Turner, who had 13 points and five rebounds each. Rookie R.J. Hunter made his role felt, as he hit a three-pointer and finished the game with seven points.
Greg Monroe led the Bucks with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Antetokounmpo added in 16 points, despite finding himself in early foul trouble.
Boston just seemed to have a more aggressive mindset than the Bucks. They came at Milwaukee for 48 minutes in waves of consistency, much like the Wisconsin Men’s basketball team did to opponents last season. The Bucks were not ready for it.
Milwaukee will look to redeem themselves Wednesday evening when they take on the Denver Nuggets in the Mile High city.