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by **112288** Sun Dec 25, 2022 7:48 pm

Celtics Wrap: Jayson Tatum Gifts Bucks Loss On Christmas
Tatum went for 41 against Milwaukee

NESN by Keagan Stiefel

BOSTON — The Boston Celtics defeated the Milwaukee Bucks, 139-118, on Christmas Day at TD Garden.

The Celtics improved to 24-10 while the Bucks fell to 22-11.

ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
Who knows how they did it, but the Celtics had a complete reversal of fortune against the Bucks — putting together their best performance from beyond the arc all month.

After combining to shoot 31.5% from 3-point land in its first 11 games this month, Boston shot an astounding 48.7% from deep — reverting back the ways of a historic pace from October and November.

The Celtics came out hot, connecting on four of their first five shots from range. The Bucks, however, struggled mightily, with Antetokounmpo settling for shots outside of the paint early and often. That bleed over to the rest of the team, with Milwaukee going just 8-for-26 from beyond the arc through three quarters.

Milwaukee was forced to settle for the outside shot in the fourth quarter, trailing by 19 points at one point. Antetokounmpo hit a few shots, but an offensive explosion from Jaylen Brown was enough to essentially seal the game for Boston.

STARS OF THE GAME
— Tatum was the best player on the court, scoring 41 points on 14-of-22 shooting. He also filled up the box score with seven rebounds, five assists and three steals.

He also had a sweet poster on Antetokounmpo.

— Marcus Smart could have placed on this list without scoring a single point. His passing was superb, netting him eight assists to only one turnover. He also added six points and three rebounds on the afternoon.

— Grant Williams was a pest for the Bucks, but also stuffed the stat sheet. He finished with 11 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals.

WAGER WATCH
Tatum blew past his total steals prop in this one. DraftKings Sportsbook set his steals total at 1.5 on Christmas, giving him -115 odds of surpassing the number. He made the Grinch proud, finishing with three, meaning a $100 bet would have netted a total payout of $186.96.

UP NEXT
The Celtics will be back at TD Garden on Tuesday, welcoming the Houston Rockets to town for the first time in 2022. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.

112288

by **cowens/oldschool** Mon Dec 26, 2022 9:35 am

Great game, we hit them in the mouth first, kept battling and got stronger as the game got longer. Great team win with our 2 stars leading and taking turns carrying us. Tatum with a 20 point 3rd quarter and Brown with 10 points in a row in 4th icing the game. White with some timely defense and shots, GWill, Al, Brogdan, Smart all with good contributions playing off the J’s and facilitating the J’s.

Tatum with one of his signature performances, got the best of Giannis in a match up of 2 MVP candidates. Jaylen had some ball handling and free throw issues, but still came thru, got us off to a good start in 1st and took over in 4th. Loved the versatility in his 4th quarter run, 2 3’s, the midrange and 2 finishes in transition. Also loved the way he defended then later scattering Giannis, leading to a little scrum.

by **sinus007** Mon Dec 26, 2022 10:29 am

Hi,
Yes, it was very important win - setting the tone for most probable playoff battle.
Js came to the big game with the big guns = 41+29.
It seems like if we shoot 40+% from 3pt it's almost an automatic W.
The only problem, IMO, was our defense: to give 118 points, even to the second-best team, is a little bit too much.

AK

by **Celtics17** Mon Dec 26, 2022 11:41 am

Great game. Played a sharp crisp game start to finish. Bucks are tough and made some runs, but Tatum was just outstanding. He really shined on the big stage yesterday. Jaylen was good also, but his missed free throws and turnovers and lapses on defense keep him from being all NBA. I love Jaylen, and if he can just clean up these parts of his game I think he can be all NBA and Celtics will be unstoppable. Kudos to Grant and Derrick White also. They played well, and of course Marcus is the glue. He just keeps getting better at running the team.

by **NYCelt** Mon Dec 26, 2022 12:05 pm

Celtics17 wrote:Great game. Played a sharp crisp game start to finish. Bucks are tough and made some runs, but Tatum was just outstanding. He really shined on the big stage yesterday. Jaylen was good also, but his missed free throws and turnovers and lapses on defense keep him from being all NBA. I love Jaylen, and if he can just clean up these parts of his game I think he can be all NBA and Celtics will be unstoppable. Kudos to Grant and Derrick White also. They played well, and of course Marcus is the glue. He just keeps getting better at running the team.

Says it all for me.

+1

by **RosalieTCeltics** Mon Dec 26, 2022 1:28 pm

The J's can get all the accolades they deserve, for me I will give my own accolade to Marcus Smart. He has been so important to this team, has learned when and when not to shoot and the way he is setting these guys up to succeed is fantastic. He is a vital part of this team and it's success. I love watching him pass the ball, play defense and just encourage the rest of the team. So Bravo Marcus and Congratulations on your engagement too!!!!!

by **worcester** Mon Dec 26, 2022 6:33 pm

The way Marcus is playing I might even marry him.

by **RosalieTCeltics** Mon Dec 26, 2022 6:34 pm

So…do you expect him to buy you a big diamond Worcester???

by **bobheckler** Mon Dec 26, 2022 7:12 pm

Travel day for me, going from Cebu, Philippines to Bangkok by way of Singapore. Been going to Singapore for > 20 years and Thailand for > 30 years. Boy, have both of them grown up! Leaving Bangkok today to hang out with a friend at his apartment in Pattaya. Beach time!!

Let's remember, as a cautionary note, that Middleton didn't play yesterday. He's been injury-prone, missed the playoffs last year too. He turned 31 in August, so he's on his back 9 like a lot of the Bucks players. I hope he gets better. His shooting mechanics give me flashbacks to Ray Allen in their textbook motions and unchanging execution. I just don't want him playing against us.

Perhaps the most impressive part of the game (ok, one of the most...) was holding Giannis to just 3 assists and 3 turnovers. That's a win for the defense. When he's going downhill he's almost impossible to stop but, in the half court, if he can turn the corner he is such a great passer he'll pick you apart. Didn't happen yesterday.

BobC must be experiencing significant Christmas cheer. Arlington-native Pat Connaughton started and scored 15 on 4-7 from 3.

Grayson Allen scored 8 on 3-7 and was 0-3 from 3 for a -17 and that gives me significant Christmas cheer. F him, the punk.

What's going on with Jaylen? Nazr Reid, in the Orlando game, went after him and in this game Giannis. Is he getting a rep among players, or are they just getting frustrated because they can't shut him down? He's shooting 49.1% from the field this year. That's amazing for a wing. What makes it even more amazing is that he's only shooting 33.8% from 3, which gives a 57.7% from 2. 58% from 2. That is SO efficient. I agree with what everybody is saying about his turnovers, it is by far the weakest part of his game left.

Tatum picking up the gauntlet. His rep got a bit besmirched after disappearing in the playoffs but this was a big game and he played big.

Smart's the glue. I do not care that he only took 4 fgas. Hell, that pleases me. It's everything else he does that makes this team win.

Derrick White outplayed Grayson Allen. Have I mentioned how much that pleases me?

The Bucks have the #5 defense in the league, giving up 110.1 points per game, and we not only scored 139 on them we shot almost 59% from the field and 48% from 3 doing it. But don't look now, folks, our Boston Celtics are now in 13th place at 112.4 points given up per game. Remember when we were in the mid-20s? As far as Defensive Ratings, which are pace-adjusted (points given up per 100 possessions) go we're 7th.

17 fast break points for us vs 13 for them. That's what containing Giannis will do for you.

Despite all our troubles the last few weeks we still have the largest MoV in the league @ 6.3. Cleveland, which seems to have our number, is #2 at 6.0.

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401468650

Bob

.

by **RosalieTCeltics** Mon Dec 26, 2022 7:38 pm

Jaylen absolutely got under Giannis’s skin, and the fact that he was losing was really ticking him off. At the end of the game, I do not know if anyone else picked up on it but he went right over to Jaylen and put his hand on his shoulder and they talked, so I think Giannis was just a little frustrated. On top of it all, Jayson was kicking his rear!!!!

I can see why they tried to trade Grayson Allen, he is an up and down player, it will be interesting to see if he is on this team in February

Well….you are having a great time for yourself Bob, travel safe and enjoy!!! Hope we hear from you when you can get a link or so.

Rosalie

by **worcester** Mon Dec 26, 2022 8:11 pm

Rosalie, my gal Kathleen would be sorely disappointed, but with his salary, of course I'd expect a big ring from Marcus. I just love the way he's playing. Always have but even more so now. Many assists -7.4 pg, very few turnovers, not too many shots (hitting 34.4% from 3 - even better than Jaylen - and 11.4 ppg), and as always THAT DEFENSE!

by **cowens/oldschool** Tue Dec 27, 2022 9:34 am

If Jaylen can tighten his handle and decision making and get his 3 pt shooting up closer to 40% it won’t be fair how good this team could be. I still see some good passes every game, despite the Jekyll mistakes. On the Giannis play, Jaylen is just so strong, he was just chasing his man fast and innocently bumped into Giannis. Obviously Giannis didn’t like being run over and wasn’t the first time. I remember a 2 handed dunk by Jaylen a few years go in traffic where he sent Giannis sprawling on the contact on the dunk. I know Giannis is one of the most physical at his position, but so is Jaylen.

by **dboss** Tue Dec 27, 2022 2:00 pm

I was very impressed with the way the Celtics played.

The Bucks have been a team over the years that find ways to grind out wins.

The Bucks are 2-5 over the past 7 games. I guess the Celtics are not the only top tier team that has struggled a bit.

The Celtics did a masterful job in holding the freak below his season numbers. (53.6% FG, 11.2 rebounds and 31.2 PPG) It was a collective effort (40.9% FG, 9 rebounds and 27 points)

Tatum with a Xmas Day signature game!

Celtics played great offense. This is all about shot making from deep. Guys that have been in a funk were able to knock down shots. I thought Grant and Derrick hit some clutch shots.

Marcus Smart continues to take this team where it needs to go.
I am very impressed with his distribution skills.

The big issue for the Bucks is the absolute lack of depth at SF. And even with a healthy Middleton they cannot check the J's.

I do not know if there is a team in the NBA that have a pair of defenders that can hang with JT and JB.

by **prakash** Tue Dec 27, 2022 3:48 pm

Nothing is more pleasing than watching your team put up a great performance. Enjoyed every minute.

When Jaylen missed 3 free throws, I was worried that he will get into a funk. Thankfully, it wasn’t too bad. Is it me or do others also think that Jaylen has a flat arc on his free throws.

by **dbrown4** Wed Dec 28, 2022 6:43 pm

bobh,

Thanks for pointing out the Middleton absence. But I'm going to posit that if Middleton were there, he'd be good for only a +5 to +10 net max for the Bucks. We also had out on the court at best about a 25% Robert Williams at this point. Would I call the Middleton/Williams combo a wash? Maybe. Let's give the Bucks 5 points and call it a day. Still a blow out.

Great game all around. I can add nothing to the analysis.

db

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