Undefeated no more
Hot-shooting Celtics halt Bucks’ flawless start to season
It was probably a little more than we wanted to shoot, but those were the shots that were there AL HORFORD Boston Celtics
BOSTON— The Boston Celtics went outside and stayed there while knocking off the last of the NBA’s unbeaten teams with a barrage of 3-pointers.
The Celtics set a franchise record for 3-pointers with 24 in a 117-113 win over the Bucks Thursday night, handing Milwaukee its first loss of the season.
“We got a lot of open looks. We were taking what they were giving us,” said Gordon Hayward, who hit three 3-pointers while scoring a season-high 18. “Those are big shots for us. We have to be able to hit those.”
Kyrie Irving led Boston with 28 points, including six 3-pointers as the Celtics shattered the club record of 19 and came up one short of the NBA record.
Al Horford also scored 18, hitting four from beyond-the-arc, and Marcus Morris made five 3pointers to finish with 17 points.
“It was probably a little more than we wanted to shoot, but those were the shots that were there,” said Horford, who also led the Celtics with eight assists. “We definitely want to be better, but we did a good job. I just felt like wemoved the ball well.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo returned to the lineup after missing one gamewhile in the NBA’s concussion protocol and led Milwaukee with 33 points and 11 boards.
The Bucks had a 62-22 advantage in points-in-the-paint, but it wasn’t quite enough for Milwaukee to overcome Boston’s outside shooting.
“We were just knocking them down and our guys got hot,” Morris said.
Milwaukee, the last unbeaten team left in the NBA after beating Toronto on Monday night, came up just short after a furious rally in the fourth quarter.
Down 15 entering the fourth, the Bucks opened on a 12-0 run and were within a point in the final minute, but the Celtics held on for their fourth straight win.
‘B’ or ‘C’ game
“We still think we are one of the best teams,” Antetokounmpo said. “Tonight we didn’t have an ‘A’ or ‘B’ game. Probably a ‘C’ game, but we were still close to winning the game in Boston.”
Khris Middleton and Malcom Brogdon scored 16 apiece and Eric Bledsoe had 13 points and seven assists for the Bucks.
The Celtics, whose previous record for 3-pointers was 19, came one short of tying the NBA record of 25, set by the Cleveland Cavaliers in a win over the Atlanta Hawks on March 4.
Boston didn’t score in the fourth until Jayson Tatum hit a 3-pointer with 9:13 left in the game. Milwaukee continued to push and pulled within 113-112 when Bledsoe made 1 of 2 from the foul line with 13 seconds.
That was as close as the Bucks would get as the Celtics sealed it from the foul line.