Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – The short-handed Milwaukee Bucks shook off a slow start and dominated in the second half to beat Boston 116-101 on Thursday and halt the Celtics’ five-game NBA winning streak. Milwaukee’s two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo was again sidelined by a calf injury.
But Kyle Kuzma stepped up with 31 points, Kevin Porter Jr. added a triple-double of 18 points, 10 rebounds, and 13 assists, and Bobby Portis Jr. chipped in 27 points off the bench for a Bucks team that had lost 10 of their prior 12 games. Jaylen Brown scored 30 points and Jordan Walsh added 20 for the Celtics, who led by as many as 14 on the way to a 67-60 halftime lead.
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However, the Celtics went cold in the second half, connecting on just three of 26 from three-point range after the break. Milwaukee out-scored Boston 27-13 in the pivotal third quarter to seize control. “You know, they jumped on us at the beginning of the game,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said. “We got right back in. We came out in the third quarter, I thought our defense was phenomenal. We basically took away their threes, and that’s what they kept hunting and we kept taking them away — and I thought it was great.”
Kuzma drove for a layup to tie it at 73-73 midway through the third, and the Bucks then took their first lead since the first period on a Porter free-throw, and never trailed again. “I thought we went through some good moments of advantage creation and missing shots, but then they turned their pressure up and we just weren’t sharp on the execution in the second half there,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “I think a lot of it came from just their ability to break us down, spread us out, and then make passes for open shots.”
In another game, the Houston Rockets, fueled by 22 points and 15 rebounds from center Alperen Sengun, held off the LA Clippers 115-113 in a tight battle in Los Angeles in which neither team led by more than nine points. Clippers star James Harden tied it at 110-110 with 37.1 seconds remaining, but Amen Thompson promptly put the Rockets up for good, finally getting his put-back to drop on the fifth opportunity of Houston’s next possession. Sengun had come up with three offensive rebounds but couldn’t get the ball in the basket. Thompson grabbed his last miss and scored, drawing a foul and making the ensuing free-throw.
Rockets star Kevin Durant produced just three points on a dismal 1-of-7 shooting in the first half but added 13 points in the second half as Houston rallied from a 54-51 halftime deficit. Center Ivica Zubac led Los Angeles with 33 points and Kawhi Leonard added 24 points and nine rebounds, but the Clippers lost their third straight and their eighth in nine games.
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