3 Studs, 3 duds from Celtics 119-108 win over Giannis, Bucks

1. The Boston Celtics walked into TD Garden on Monday night with a 3-0 record, staring down a matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks. Khris Middleton was sidelined, as

1. he’s

1. still recovering from offseason ankle surgery (on both ankles), but Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard came to play.

 

Both Bucks stars put up amazing scoring numbers, but the Celtics, whose stars struggled at times, still found a way to compete. It was a tight game for the third three quarters, but Boston pulled away at the end of the third. And while the Bucks made some small runs in the final frame, it just wasn’t enough. The Celtics earned a 119-108 win.

 

 

Here are three studs and three duds from the Celtics’ win over the Bucks on Monday night.

 

BONUS: Jaylen Brown had a terrible first half, but he was a huge reason the Celtics won this game. After shooting 2-of-8 through the first two quarters, he was unconscious in the third and fourth (8-of-11). Brown got to the rim at will, mixing in a healthy dose of middys, too.

 

Jrue Holiday deserves a shoutout for his clutch second-half performance, too.

 

 

Stud – Payton Pritchard

The Sixth Man of the Year campaign continued for Payton Pritchard on Monday night.

 

Boston’s offense was sputtering a bit with Jayson Tatum on the sidelines, but Pritchard was right there to pick them up. Deep three after deep three, he slowly wore down the Bucks, and Doc Rivers even had to call a timeout mid-way through the second to try to cool him down.

Pritchard’s impact wasn’t limited to the offensive end, though. He nabbed an impressive steal on Delon Wright late in the first. He hounded the Bucks guard, diving on top of him on the ground to secure the steal.

 

In the first half alone, Pritchard put up 19 points, two rebounds, and two assists while shooting 7-of-10 from the floor and a red-hot 5-of-9 from distance.

 

By the time the third quarter wrapped up, Pritchard only poured in one more bucket, but it was a big one. In true Pritchard fashion, he drained a huge side-step three as the clock wound down.

 

 

Dud – Jayson Tatum

For large stretches of this game, it looked like Jayson Tatum had no interest in passing the ball. Too often did he put his head down and focus on getting his own shot.

 

The issue came to its head late in the second quarter, and it bled into the third. Every time Tatum got the ball, he tried to either force up a bad three or got lost on the drive.

 

 

Tatum let the lack of foul calls get to him, too, picking up a tech in the third.

 

Milwaukee was pressing up to the level, and they took away the pull-up, step-in threes that Tatum has been thriving on this season. He didn’t respond to the shift in coverage well.

 

Tatum was anything but his normal self on Monday. He’s evolved into an incredible playmaker, but his mission against the Bucks seemed more individual than team-oriented.

 

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