Jayson Tatum looks for room to shoot against Milwaukee’s Pat Connaughton during Boston’s 122-114 win Friday night. Aaron Gash/Associated Press
MILWAUKEE — Jayson Tatum scored 34 points, Marcus Smart had 23 and the Boston Celtics beat Milwaukee 122-114 on Friday night to snap the Bucks’ eight-game winning streak and spilt the two-game series.
The Celtics, who led 60-55 at the half, hit nine of 14 3-pointers in the third quarter to push the lead to 103-89 entering the final quarter.
“It felt good to get a win. A lot of guys played well. Especially after what happened yesterday, losing a couple of my teammates,” Tatum said, referring to deadline trades. “So, it just happened to come together today. It was only one win, but maybe this can be the start of something good.”
Boston led by as much as 20 points in the fourth. Bryn Forbes’ 3-pointer cut the deficit to 112-97, but newly acquired Moe Wagner and Smart countered from beyond the arc to extend the lead to 118-97.
Kemba Walker added 21 points, and Jaylen Brown had 18 for the Celtics.
“Boston played really, really well tonight on both ends of the court,” Bucks Coach Mike Budenholzer said. “They were excellent. We didn’t play our best. When a team plays that well and you’re not clicking, you’re not playing your best or kind of matching that execution both offensively and defensively, that’s just to me what I saw. They played really well and we weren’t as good as them tonight.”
Boston finished 22 of 47 from beyond the arc. Smart was 7 for 10, and Brown and Tatum added four 3-pointers apiece.
“We want layups. We want to get to the rim, but Milwaukee’s one of the best at closing down the paint,” Celtics Coach Brad Stevens said. “And certainly we saw some bad rim reads hurt us in the first half. It got them going in transition, because we tried to shoot it over people and through people instead of kicking it out.”
For the second straight game, the Celtics held Giannis Antetokounmpo in check, limiting him to 16 points – well below his 28.6 average. Khris Middleton had 19 points and Jrue Holiday 17 for the Bucks.
The Celtics, who had lost five of their previous six, erased most of a 25-point second-half deficit in a 121-119 loss at Milwaukee on Wednesday night, missing a chance to win when Daniel Theis missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Antetokounmpo was held to 13 points in that game.
TIP-INS
Bucks: Reserve forward Bobby Portis was out because of COVID-19 protocols – the first game he’s missed this season. Portis is averaging 11.0 points, 6.8 rebounds in 21 minutes per game.
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