On an emotional Wednesday night at TD Garden, the Boston Celtics were unable to pick up their first win of the 2017-18 season.
Coming off a tough loss Tuesday against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Celtics suffered a similar fate in their home opener, falling to the Milwaukee Bucks 108-100.
Giannis Antetokounmpo performed as advertised in his first game of the new campaign. The Greek Freak powered the Bucks with 37 points to go along with 13 rebounds and three assists. Malcolm Brogdon also had a big night for Milwaukee with 19 points.
Jaylen Brown (18 points) paced the Celtics in points for a second straight game, but the second-year forward fouled out in crunch time when his team needed him most. Kyrie Irving added 17 points in the contest, but the guard had a dreadful night from the floor, converting on only 28 percent of his shots.
With the loss, the Celtics fall to 0-2, while the Bucks improve to 1-0.
Here’s how it all went down:
STARTING FIVE
PG: Kyrie Irving
SG: Marcus Smart
SF: Jaylen Brown
PF: Jayson Tatum
C: Al Horford
BALANCE
The Celtics came out of the gate rather flat and didn’t log their first points until Horford sunk a floater at the 9:36 mark. But from there, Boston’s offense got into a groove and did a fine job of distributing the ball, and held a 26-24 lead after the opening twelve minutes. Terry Rozier paced the Celtics with five points in the first, including a go-ahead 3-pointer with 16 seconds remaining in the quarter. Not far behind were Horford, Irving, Brown and Tatum, who all posted four points in the first. The C’s shot a respectable 48 percent in the quarter and owned a 14-10 advantage in points in the paint.
FIREWORKS
The Celtics and Bucks engaged in a little extracurricular activity early in the second quarter. Smart attempted to set a pick for a driving Rozier, which Matthew Dellavedova tried to fight around with an elbow. Smart took great exception with the jab and promptly confronted Dellavedova, causing a minor scuffle between the two sides.
Smart was given a technical foul for his role in the skirmish, while Dellavedova was assessed a personal foul.
While the first quarter was highlighted by the Celtics’ fluid offense, the second was all about Antetokounmpo. The Greek Freak dominated in the frame, scoring 13 points to go along with five rebounds. Milwaukee grabbed a seven-point lead when Brogdon sunk a 3-pointer with 2:33 left in the quarter to make it 55-48 Bucks, but the C’s didn’t let the road team run away with it, limiting Milwaukee’s halftime advantage to 58-53.
Rozier and Irving led the Celtics through two quarters with 10 points apiece.
MOMENTUM SHIFT
The Bucks boosted their lead back to seven early in the third quarter, but it didn’t take the Celtics long to change the tide of the game. Boston went back and forth with Milwaukee before Brown buried a game-tying 3-pointer at the 9:25 mark in the quarter. Less than two minutes later, Smart converted from beyond the arc to give the C’s their first lead since early in the second quarter. Brown was the star of the third quarter, though, as he closed the frame on a personal 6-0 run to give Boston an 80-76 lead heading into the fourth.
BUCKS BATTLE BACK
Boston maintained a slim lead through the first handful of minutes of the fourth, but Milwaukee evened the score 89-89 at the 6:27 mark in the quarter on a pair of Antetokounmpo free throws. The Bucks then took a two-point lead 16 seconds later when Brogdon converted on both attempts from the charity stripe.
After a series of sluggish offensive possessions from the Celtics, Brogdon knocked down a 3-pointer with 3:24 left to give Milwaukee a five-point edge, followed by a Delladedova floater which extended the lead to seven. The Celtics chipped away and managed to cut the deficit to two with just over a minute remaining, but a Dellavedova 3-pointer followed by an Irving miss from beyond the arc served as the final nail in the coffin.
PLAY OF THE GAME
How can you possibly guard this?
UP NEXT
The Celtics return to action Friday night against the Philadelphia 76ers. Tip-off from Wells Fargo Center is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.
Thumbnail photo via David Butler II/USA TODAY Sports Images
