The Boston Celtics took away the home court advantage from the top NBA seed in the Milwaukee Bucks Sunday afternoon. Kyrie Irving led five players in double figures and had a game high 26 points as Boston rolled to a 112-90 win in game one of an Eastern Conference semifinal series at Miserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Boston built an 11 point first quarter lead and led by nine at the end of the opening 12 minutes. The Celtics would extend that led in the second going up 15 on an Aaron Baynes three pointer, before the host Bucks went on a 15-0 run to tie it. Eventually Milwaukee took a two point lead with a run that ended at 21-4 on a Kris Middleton three with just over two minutes left in the half. The Celtics though regained a lead at intermission at 52-50.
The visitors built their largest lead in the third quarter while up by seven. A 19-5 spurt over a 4:11 span capped off by a Terry Rozier three pointer made it 86-65. Boston led by 17 headed to the final quarter. Milwaukee never got closer than 12 points in the final quarter and Boston went up as many as 26, in shooting 54 percent from the floor against the top defense in the NBA.
Irving added seven rebounds and 11 assists to his point total. Al Horford had a double double with 20 points, 11 rebounds, and three assists. Jaylen Brown had 19 points. Gordon Hayward added 13 points and five assists, while Rozier had 11 points, nine rebounds, and three assists. Giannis Antetokounmpo led Milwaukee with 22 points and eight rebounds. Middleton had a double double with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Nikola Mirotic had 13 points. The Bucks shot 35 percent from the floor, and missed nine from the foul line (15-24). Game two is Tuesday night at 8 pm.
