Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics makes a dribble against the Minnesota Timberwolves during the second half at TD Garden on December 23, 2022 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Winslow Townson/Getty Images)
Jayson Tatum posted his fifth game in a row scoring 30 points, leading the Boston Celtics with 41 points on his way to a 139-118 Christmas Day win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday night.
Tatum and Jaylen Brown (29 points) combined to take 70 points in a game for the eighth time in their careers. Tatum added 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals as Boston won the head-to-head games.
Derrick White, Grant Williams and Al Horford also scored twice as many goals, helping Boston hit 19 of 39 shots from three points.
Marcus Smart made eight assists.
Jayson Tatum excelled with 41 points #NBAXmas game tonight!
Presented by DraftKings pic.twitter.com/SvykINiCHv
– NBA (@NBA) December 26, 2022
Giannis Antetokounmpo had the best 27 of his teammate, while Jrue Holiday finished with 23, Brook Lopez scored 16 and Pat Connaughton, a Massachusetts native, added 15 points from four 3-pointers in his third consecutive loss. Milwaukee.
Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis each made nine rebounds, and Holiday also had seven assists.
After Boston led just one at halftime, Tatum scored 20 points in the third inning to give the Celtics a 14-point lead.
Tatum and Horford attacked from the heart of the city as the Celtics opened the second half 8-2. After the Bucks ran out of time-out, Tatum scored three of the hosts’ five consecutive goals to help make it 87-78. Connaughton has eight consecutive Milwaukee points in the middle.
The entire Bucks were only five points past Tatum in the inning, and it was a 100-86 game that entered the final bracket after a Grant Williams corner.
Joe Ingles hit a running 3-pointer as Milwaukee finished ninth in the fourth inning, but Williams took the Celtics’ 10-0 lead with three points to make it 110-91. Brown then scored 10 straight points to help put the game out of reach.
Celtics shot 7/9 in the first 4:03. Tatum and Brown hit three back-to-back shots to take an 8-0 lead, turning a 12-11 deficit into a 19-12 lead and forcing Milwaukee to call out a timeout.
Milwaukee used a 10-3 run to take a 30-28 lead in the first round. Brown followed with a 3-pointer pullup and Hauser hit three deep at the whistle, extending Boston’s lead to 36-28.
Immediately after Milwaukee ran 8-0, Tatum responded with a hammer throw at Antetokounmpo with 5:07 remaining before halftime.
Boston’s lead was just 62–61 at halftime, when Lopez hit a shot with 2.8 seconds left before Brown missed three fouls.
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