Doc Rivers and Damian Lillard converse on the Bucks’ 122-119 loss to the CelticsDoc Rivers and Damian Lillard converse on the Bucks’ 122-119 loss to the Celtics on March 20, 2024.BOSTON – The two prime groups within the Eastern Conference went head-to-head for the third time this 12 months on Thursday night time at TD Garden, however the extremely anticipated nationally televised game between the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks misplaced some luster all through the day as Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday had been dominated out.But the groups nonetheless placed on a present, with the Bucks almost erasing a 21-point fourth quarter deficit earlier than the Celtics pulled out a 122-119 win within the closing seconds.Bobby Portis scored 14 fourth quarter factors and bought his group to 116-114 with 32 seconds left with a runner that drew a whistle, however he missed the free throw and Jaylen Brown countered with two bonus free throws with 20 ticks remaining. After Damian Lillard missed a troublesome layup try over Brown on the opposite finish, Jayson Tatum added two extra free throws with 12.1 seconds left to successfully seal the game by placing the Celtics up six.“He was great,” Middleton stated of Portis. “He plays with a lot of energy, a lot of effort, got hot and we all know once he gets hot keep trying to play through him. He did a great job of keeping us in the game and bringing us back.”The victory gave the Celtics a 2-1 season collection lead on the Bucks. They play one another one closing time within the common season on April 9 in Milwaukee.Milwaukee fell to 17-18 on the street.BOX SCORE: Celtics 122, Bucks 119Lillard led the Bucks with 32 factors on 11-of-21 capturing, together with 6 of 10 from behind the three-point line. Portis added 24 factors and 15 rebounds off the bench. Khris Middleton had 22 factors, six assists and 6 rebounds. Brook Lopez and Jae Crowder had been tormented by foul bother and mixed for 15 factors.“There’s no moral victories or nothing like that,” Lillard said of playing without Antetokounmpo. “We wanted to win the game regardless of who is on the floor because we think we got a good enough team regardless, as we’ve shown. We’ve been saying it’s about the journey and us pushing towards the team we want to become and at the right time of the season and this is part of that.”Obviously playing 16 games without Khris we had to continue to find a way and lean on guys to step up and kind of fill that hole collectively and they did. And now playing without our best player, it’s the same. We gotta have the same mentality, we gotta be confident and we gotta look around the room and see we got a lot of depth, we got experience, we got guys that can get a lot done. And that’s been our mentality.”But I think when we become whole as we close out the season all of these experiences and all of the adversity that we’ve had over the course of the season I think it’ll shine bright in the moments that we need it to.”Boston received its seventh straight game, its second-longest win streak of the season, to enhance to 55-14. The Celtics had already clinched a playoff spot and the victory gave them an Atlantic Division title. Milwaukee dropped to 44-25 they usually instantly head house to face the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday night time at Fiserv Forum.Tatum scored 23 of his 31 factors within the first half to lead the Celtics whereas Brown (21), Kristaps Porziņģis (17), Derrick White (23) and Payton Pritchard (19) additionally reached double figures.Bucks can’t recover from hump in second halfLillard and Malik Beasley opened the third quarter by hitting 2 three-pointers apiece, and the two-minute flurry helped pull the Bucks to inside 73-68. But Brown hit a 3 of his personal to stem the tide, after which adopted with a basket off a Milwaukee offensive foul to go up 10. A Middleton bucket saved the Bucks considerably related at 78-70, however then the Celtics ripped off an 18-6 over the following 5 minutes of the quarter to successfully put the game away and go up 20 factors. The Bucks didn’t make one other three-pointer till Pat Connaughton knocked one down with 27 seconds left to make it 101-83 Celtics.Milwaukee bought to inside 10 factors on two events within the fourth quarter, down 104-94 with 7:40 to go and 107-97 over a minute later. And despite the fact that the Bucks had executed a superb job of limiting Tatum within the second half by sending a second physique, Tatum discovered the open teammate in White for key three-pointers to maintain the Bucks at arm’s size.“We knew that they win when they make threes and we just didn’t close to the body a lot of times off our turnovers,” Lillard stated. “We let them get second and third opportunities on the glass and it just led to threes. You let a team like this, the best team in the league, get threes – especially to start the game at home and feel good about themselves – it’s going to be an uphill battle.”Portis made three consecutive baskets to reduce the deficit to 110-103 with slightly below three minutes to go, however Tatum scored his first factors of the second half with a pair of free throws and a driving basket between missed three-pointers by Portis and Lillard. Then, when Tatum was pressured into a troublesome jumper, Porziņģis collected an offensive rebound and slammed it house emphatically.Milwaukee stayed with it, however finally could not get the ultimate mixture of a cease and a bucket to sq. the game or take a lead.Tatum went 6 for six from the free throw line within the fourth quarter.“It was one of those games where they keep getting the lead, we kept fighting back,” Rivers stated. “As far as that, you love that. We did keep fighting. We end up shooting the ball better than them tonight. I thought our zone was really effective, mixing back zone, man. It made them hesitate what they were running. That helped us.“We had a lot of self-inflicted wounds tonight with turnovers, offensive rebounds, bad possessions. Then bad possessions defensively, switching when we shouldn’t switch, fouling late. But all those are great things for us to watch film and to learn and get better at. So, this is a really good learning opportunity for us is the way I look at it.”Khris Middleton seems good in return from harmIn his second game back from a severely sprained left ankle that sidelined him for 16 video games, Middleton performed slightly below 33 minutes towards Boston and scored 22 factors on 8-of-11 capturing, together with a 2-for-3 mark from behind the three-point line.“Felt great overall,” he said after the game. “I thought my wind was there for the most part. Some of those longer stretches I got a little tired and fatigued, but that’s part of it, that’s part of getting back in shape, that’s part of basketball in general. Just gotta find a way to get through it.”This got here after scoring 22 factors on 8-of-15 capturing in slightly below 26 minutes towards Phoenix on Sunday.The 32-year-old Middleton had averaged 17.1 factors, 5.8 assists and 4.4 rebounds in 30.5 minutes per game from Dec. 7 by way of Feb. 3 earlier than injuring his ankle on Feb. 6. In his final full game earlier than the harm, he logged 38 minutes in a win over Dallas on Feb. 3.“The number was 30 tonight, so two extra minutes,” Rivers said. “That wasn’t that bad. He felt great. He wanted to stay in. I hated to take him out that one stretch (in the fourth quarter). He just made a shot and but we’re looking at his minutes and we had to take him out. Our whole thought was if we made a run we could have him for the last three minutes but he sat for like six minutes, so he got put in a tough situation.”Before the game Rivers was noncommittal about Middleton having the ability to play Thursday night time towards Brooklyn, nonetheless. The three-time all-star performed in back-to-back video games simply as soon as this season, on Jan. 3-4 – and he appeared in simply over 15 first half minutes within the second game.Turnovers put Bucks behind earlyBefore the game Rivers stated a key for his group towards Boston can be to face up to the Celtics early offensive punch, they usually did simply that after falling behind 23-12 however rallying to a five-point deficit after the primary quarter.Milwaukee would then survive one other run, as Boston would push their lead to 18 factors with 4 minutes, 6 seconds left within the first half. But, the Bucks bought to inside 9 factors earlier than the Celtics took a 69-56 lead at halftime.Though the Celtics shot 10-for-21 (47.6%) from behind the three-point line, they had been in a position to build their lead – and maintain the Bucks from actually closing – by forcing 9 turnovers and scoring 11 factors off Milwaukee’s errors.The Bucks’ margin for error was already skinny with out Antetokounmpo and towards one of the best group within the league – with one of the best house document – they couldn’t afford to give away possessions. And a few of them had been a results of maybe making an attempt too laborious, like Crowder throwing an inbound cross away out of a timeout, Middleton lobbing a cross to Portis that was simply too excessive, or passes into the put up that had to discover their approach by way of too many arms.Then after the Bucks hit a quartet of three-pointers to open the second half and get to inside 73-68, an offensive foul by Lopez and an errant Lillard cross helped the Celtics to a 78-68 lead to sluggish Milwaukee’s momentum within the quarter. Through three quarters, Boston scored 16 factors on 14 Bucks turnovers.“It matched (the deficit) all through the game for probably the most half. And it’s one factor in the event that they had been like pressured. We had some unhealthy ones tonight. So, we’ll watch it. We’ll see it,” Rivers said. “I assumed there have been stretches the place we bought caught offensively and at any time when we did that’s often when a turnover occurred. These video games, they’re good learners for our guys. I assumed there have been stretches the place everybody was making an attempt to do an excessive amount of. And you don’t want to try this.”Just do your job, do what you’re supposed to do, move the ball, keep playing and it works out for you. I thought the best part of the fourth quarter I thought we trusted that and that’s what happened.”Milwaukee cleaned that up in the fourth quarter, which helped spark their comeback by turning it over just once.“Once we started to take care of the ball and do the things that we talked about at the level that we talked about doing ‘em, we see how the game changed and we gave ourselves a chance,” Lillard said. “It was an uphill battle. For us we want to keep pushing forward no matter what’s going on and we did. Like I said, we gave ourselves a chance we just came up short.”Giannis Antetokounmpo misses second straight game with injuryAntetokounmpo began Wednesday as questionable to play with left hamstring tendinopathy, but the MVP candidate did make the trip to Boston, even though he was officially ruled out later in the afternoon.”He’s feeling good, not nice,” Rivers said before the game. “Those issues are one thing you do not take an opportunity on. Especially now. It wasn’t very laborious. Giannis in all probability would’ve come if it was up to him, however these are those you simply have to say no and let him get higher. You simply do not want to journey. It’s a one-day journey, , the best way we checked out it. We left one among our coaches back to work him out. He labored out immediately. Not laborious, however he did some capturing and stuff. It’s only a higher approach of treating it.”Antetokounmpo missed the Bucks’ win over Phoenix on Sunday with soreness in the hamstring after going through pregame warmups. Rivers wasn’t ready to call the hamstring issue an “harm” before the game against the Suns, and noted it would give Antetokounmpo five days off before the Celtics game. Antetokounmpo did some “mild” work in follow on Tuesday.“It’s unfortunate but I think guys, hate to say it, are accustomed to it,” Middleton stated. “They’ve got an opportunity to step up and play big minutes but for the most part guys have. I thought tonight we did a great job of still playing our game, facilitating the ball, Dame doing what he does, I’m trying to do what I do to help everybody out there. It was the carryover from Phoenix. Just gotta keep playing the right way. When Giannis comes back, same thing, keep laying the right way and know we got another dominant guy ready to come back and help us out.”The 29-year-old stated he first felt a problem within the muscle when taking part in towards the Los Angeles Clippers on March 10, and he performed the following two video games in Sacramento and towards Philadelphia.“You don’t play with calves and hamstrings,” Antetokounmpo said after the win over the 76ers on March 14. “They’re shaky. You can feel like a strain or whatever the case may be and it’s (small) and it gets bigger and bigger and bigger. So, that’s pretty much going to be longer out. So you don’t mess with stuff like that.”The forward’s absence means that Rivers has had his “big three” of Antetokounmpo, Middleton and Lillard for just three games since taking over – which happened to be his first three games in Denver (Jan. 29), in Portland (Jan. 31) and at Dallas (Feb. 3).Middleton sat out the Feb. 4 game in Utah as part of knee management on a back-to-back, then Lillard sat out in Phoenix on Feb. 6 with an ankle sprain — only to see Middleton severely sprain his left ankle eight minutes into that game. He returned to the court on Sunday, which was Antetokounmpo’s first absence with the hamstring.The Bucks return home for a game against Brooklyn on Thursday, which is one of their 13 remaining regular season games. The season ends in about three and a half weeks on April 14.”Obviously you would love to have the three guys but you’re not gonna get it, so I don’t worry about it much,” Rivers said. “I stopped worrying about that a long time ago. You just can’t. We do have shootarounds. We have a lot of practice actually for an actual NBA team at this point because have these two day things. But again, even on that, you hope the guys are healthy so they can practice. You can have a practice day and no one practices so that doesn’t help either. It would definitely help us to have everybody on the floor and everybody in practice, but again, it is what it is. We’ll figure it out.”NICKEL: Giannis Antetokounmpo in MVP contention while also playing through minor injuriesFive numbers2 First half shots for Bucks guard Malik Beasley, including just one three-pointer. The Bucks ran some plays for him to open the third quarter and he knocked down 2 three-pointers, which helped the Bucks pull to within 73-68. He finished 2-for-8 for the game for six points. He added six rebounds.3-2 Bucks record without Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Bucks beat Toronto (Nov. 15), lost to Cleveland (Jan. 17), beat the Los Angeles Clippers (March 4) and Phoenix (March 17).3-5 Boston’s record against Milwaukee, Oklahoma City, Denver and Minnesota – the next four best teams in the NBA. The Celtics are 52-9 against the rest of the league.10.5 Points Milwaukee was as an underdog at the start of the game after Giannis Antetokounmpo was ruled out. Per ESPN Stats & Information, it was their biggest differential in a game since 2017.3,449 Career rebounds for Khris Middleton, passing Hall of Famer Sidney Moncrief (3,447) for No. 8 all-time in franchise history.REQUIRED READING: Jrue and Lauren Holiday have profound impact on city they had to leave behindBucks still clinging to No. 2 seed in the Eastern ConferenceDespite the loss to the Celtics, the Bucks remained in second place in the Eastern Conference and one game clear of Cleveland in the loss column as the Cavaliers (43-26) lost to Miami. The Celtics, the only team in the NBA to have clinched a playoff spot already, are barreling toward the No. 1 seed – but Rivers said recently he’s not too focused on where his team falls by the end of the regular season.“I’ve never, in my entire coaching career, worried about seedings,” he stated. “Either you’re good enough or you’re not. And that’s the bottom line. I think I’m going history lesson, but in 2010 if you remember we elected not to play any of our guys in the last game, that switched us I think from the (three) seed to the (four) seed and our guys didn’t care. We made it to the finals. If you’re good enough, you’re good enough, if you’re not, you’re not, and that’s a fact. I tell you what, I’d rather be healthy enough. And that’s why you try to make sure you’re healthy going into the playoffs. And then the second thing after health, you have to be playing well. ‘Cause if you’re not playing well going into the playoffs you’re not going to make it either. So you need those two things going for you – health and playing well.”Rivers’ title-winning Boston group in 2007-08 was the No. 1 seed with a 66-16 document and his 2009-10 group was the fourth seed earlier than reaching the finals.The Bucks made incomes the No. 1 seed a goal final common season and achieved it with a 58-24 document. But after an harm to Giannis Antetokounmpo within the first game of the primary spherical of the playoffs, they had been bounced in 5 video games by the Miami Heat.Milwaukee additionally earned the highest seed within the East in 2018-19 (60-22) and 2019-20 (56-17) and misplaced within the convention finals and second spherical, respectively.The Bucks had been the No. 3 seed in 2020-21 at 46-26 earlier than profitable the NBA championship and the third seed in 2021-22 (51-31) earlier than shedding within the second spherical.