The Milwaukee Bucks got a double double and a game high 32 points from Giannis Antetokoumpo and made yet another third quarter run, en route to a 123-116 win over the Boston Celtics Friday night in game three of an Eastern Conference semifinal series at TD Garden in Boston. Milwaukee now leads the best of seven 2-1.
Boston started out fast building an early 10-2 lead in the first two minutes. Milwaukee though scored eight straight to tie it, and had their biggest lead of five when Pat Connaughton scored eight straight points including two shots from three point range. The Celtics regained the lead by five though at 30-25 by the end of the first quarter. The hosts built the lead to nine on a three pointer by Jaylen Brown with 7:30 to go before halftime. The Bucks fell down by as many as 12 before coming all the way back to tie it on a Nikola Mirotic three pointer with 1:28 left in the second. Boston had a one point halftime lead.
The third quarter again was the big 12 minutes for the visiting Bucks. Milwaukee used a 24-2 run in game two to pull away for the win, and on this night they scored 40 points in the third including a 12-0 run to take an eight point lead into the fourth quarter. The visitors increased the lead to as many as 17 in the final quarter. Boston did go on a 8-0 run to cut the deficit to seven with 1:20 left, but Eric Bledsoe made a driving layup 14 seconds later and Gordon Hayward missed a jumper on the other end, and the Bucks held on to regain the home court advantage in the series.
Antetokoumpo filled up the stat sheet by adding 13 points, eight assists, three blocks and two steals. George Hill had 21 points. Khris Middleton had 20 points, five assists, and three steals. Connaughton finished with 14 points and seven rebounds, with Mirotic chipping in 13 points. Boston got 29 points, six assists, and three steals from Kyrie Irving. Jayson Tatum also had a double double in the loss with 20 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Brown finished with 18 points and five rebounds. Al Horford had 17 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. Rounding out double digit scoring for the Celtics was Marcus Morris with 16 points, and Hayward adding 10. Boston made 30-32 from the foul line and 16-16 in the fourth quarter to make a late run but fell just short.
Game four is scheduled for Monday night at TD Garden at 7 pm.
