Bucks pull off close win over surging Celtics
LOS ANGELES: Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 32 points and 17 rebounds as the Milwaukee Bucks made the right plays down the stretch to avenge an earlier loss to the Boston Celtics with a 128-123 victory.
Alone by a comfortable margin atop the Eastern Conference, the Bucks came out quickly in the first quarter by opening a double-digit lead five minutes in.
They then held on at the end to improve to an NBA best 37-6 on the season.
Donte DiVincenzo scored a career-high 19 points and Brook Lopez added 16 as the Bucks extended their winning streak to five games, while winning for the 10th time in their last 11 contests.
The Bucks went on a run late in the third to take a 19-point lead into the fourth quarter.
“We were able to get defensive stops and that helped and then we pushed the pace a little,” said the Bucks’ Khris Middleton.
Kemba Walker led Boston by scoring 40 points and grabbing 11 rebounds and Marcus Smart added 24 as the Celtics lost for the fifth time in their last seven games. “He was awfully special tonight,” said coach Brad Stevens of Walker as the Celtics tried to find something positive in the loss.
The Celtics are considered one of the few teams that have the talent to topple the Bucks in their march to the top seed in the playoffs.
Elsewhere, Brandon Ingram outgunned Donovan Mitchell en route to a career-high 49 points as the New Orleans Pelicans snapped the Utah Jazz’s 10-game winning streak with a 138-132 overtime victory.
The Jazz rebounded from a fivepoint deficit halfway through the overtime to outscore the Pelicans 16-10 as Ingram drained five free throws in the extra session.
Former Jazz centre Derrick Favors added 21 points and 11 rebounds as New Orleans won for the 10th time in 14 games.
E’Twaun Moore scored 16 points, including a go-ahead lay-up in overtime, Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 12 and Frank Jackson had 10.
Mitchell tied his career-high with 46 points, Bojan Bogdanovic scored 26, and Rudy Gobert had 17 points and 14 rebounds before fouling out in overtime.