The Boston Bruins and Boston Celtics both were on road Tuesday night, as the regular season winds down and the race for top spot in the NBA and NHL respective Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference heats up.
At Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida the Bruins had a chance to increase their lead in the division and conference to four points with a regulation win. The Lightning from Tampa Bay were having none of it though, blanking Boston 4-0 to tie up things again at 110 points for each team.
After a scoreless opening 20 minutes, Brayden Point, Victor Hedman, and Chris Kunitz scored 9:26 apart in the middle period to build a comfortable 3-0 Tampa lead through two.
J.T. Miller added his 23rd goal unassisted 2:34 into the third to finish the scoring. Tuuka Rask finished with 32 saves in net for the 49-18-12 Bruins. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 33 stops for the shutout as the Lightning improve to 53-23-4. Boston has one game in hand over Tampa, as the B’s have three games remaining while the Bolts have two. Boston will be at Florida Thursday night at 7:30 p.m.
Meanwhile, the Celtics had a golden opportunity to gain a game on the Toronto Raptors who lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers Tuesday night. Giannis Antetokounmpo though was too much, racking up 29 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, and two blocks to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a 106-102 win over Boston at BMO Harris Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Khris Middleton added 20 points, eight rebounds, nine assists, and three steals for the Bucks, ending the Celtics six game win streak. Eric Bledsoe also added 18 points and four assists for 42-36 Milwaukee.
Jaylen Brown filled up the stat sheet for Boston with 24 points, four rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a blocked shot. Jayson Tatum had 20 points, three steals, and a block. Al Horford had 15 points, five rebounds, five assists, and a block. Marcus Morris had 13 points, three rebounds, three assists, and a steal. Aron Baynes also added 12 points, four rebounds, and two assists.
Boston, now 53-24, sits two games behind Toronto for the division and conference lead with five games left. The Celtics and Raptors play in Toronto Wednesday night at 8 p.m.
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