Celtics bounce back in dominant fashion with 23-point win over Bucks to even series
Jaylen Brown scored 25 of his 30 points in the first half, and the Boston Celtics beat the Milwaukee Bucks 109-86 on Tuesday night to even their second-round playoff at one game apiece.
The series doesn't resume until Game 3 on Saturday in Milwaukee.
Boston finished 20-of-43 from beyond the arc. The Celtics played without point guard Marcus Smart after he was ruled out before the game with a bruised right thigh he sustained in Game 1. Derrick White took his place in the starting lineup, making his first start in a playoff game since 2019 when he was with San Antonio.
Jaylen Brown knocks down his 6th three-pointer of the night setting a playoff career-high!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAPlayoffs?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBAPlayoffs</a> presented by Google Pixel on TNT <a href="https://t.co/3IHr81sb2X">pic.twitter.com/3IHr81sb2X</a>
The Celtics clamped down on Giannis Antetokounmpo after his triple-double in the series opener, limiting him to 28 points — mostly in the third quarter — nine rebounds and seven assists. Jrue Holiday added 19 points and seven assists. Bobby Portis chipped in 13 points and eight rebounds.
The Bucks cut into what had been a 26-point Celtics lead in the third quarter. Antetokounmpo keyed the charge with 18 points in the period. A 10-0 Milwaukee run, aided by a more than five-minute Celtics scoring drought, trimmed Boston's lead to 72-56 late in the third quarter.
Giannis goes coast-to-coast for the and-1 basket.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAPlayoffs?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBAPlayoffs</a> presented by Google Pixel on TNT <a href="https://t.co/M7E47Nu4ro">pic.twitter.com/M7E47Nu4ro</a>
But Boston outscored the Bucks 11-10 the rest of the period to take an
