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Bucks vs. Celtics score: Jayson Tatum’s 41 points (and monster dunk) leads Boston past Milwaukee

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BOSTON — The Boston Celtics got the gift they were wishing for this Christmas. Their once unstoppable offense, which had disappeared over the last few weeks, finally showed up again. Led by 41 points from Jayson Tatum and 29 points from Jaylen Brown, the Celtics ran away from the Bucks in the second half for a 139-118 win.

Tatum helped the Celtics seize control of the game foor good in the third quarter with a magnificent 20-point frame. He scored from all over the floor, not just in the third, but all night long. The Bucks simply had no answer for his array of jumpers and drives, which he supplemented with 10 trips to the free throw line. He finished with 41 points, seven rebounds and five assists on 14-of-22 from the field for his fifth consecutive 30-point game.

The Celtics also caught fire from downtown, something they have not been able to do for the better part of two weeks. They made eight 3s in the first quarter alone, including a heave at the buzzer by Sam Hauser, and finished 19-of-39 from behind the arc. This was the 10th time they’ve made at least 19 3s in a game this season.

Giannis Antetokounmpo finished with 27 points and nine rebounds to lead the Bucks, but this was a rough outing for the two-time MVP. Much like they did in the playoffs, the Celtics made him work for every single point, holding him to 9-of-22 from the field. Even the shots he did hit were primarily jumpers.

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Sports

Jayson Tatum’s layup at buzzer gives Boston Celtics win over Brooklyn Nets in Game 1 of first-round playoff series

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BOSTON — Jayson Tatum made a layup at the buzzer on a pass from Marcus Smart to give the Boston Celtics a dramatic 115-114 victory over the Brooklyn Nets in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series on Sunday.

Tatum scored 16 of his 31 points in the second half, the final two after a poised Boston possession in the frantic final seconds. Jaylen Brown dribbled toward the middle and swung the ball out to Smart, who fired it in to a cutting Tatum, who spun around and dropped in his layup just before time expired.

Dating back to last postseason, Tatum has four straight 30-point games in the playoffs, matching Larry Bird in 1987 for the longest streak in Celtics history. His buzzer-beater was also the first in the playoffs for the Celtics since Paul Pierce in 2010 against the Miami Heat.

Brown added 23 points. Al Horford had 20 points and 15 rebounds, and Smart finished with 20 points, including four 3-pointers.

Kyrie Irving finished with 39 points, including 18 in the fourth quarter. But the Celtics forced the ball out of his hands the last time Brooklyn had it and Kevin Durant missed a jumper with a one-point lead that set up the Celtics’ final possession.

Durant added 23 points but shot just 9-of-24.

Boston charged out of halftime with a 23-8 run to open a 82-69 lead, sparked by Smart’s dead-eye shooting from beyond the arc.

The Celtics also seemed to tweak their approach to guarding Durant in the half court, fronting him and sending help over the top to limit his driving ability.

Durant and Irving still found ways to score at times, but they had to exert increased energy to get off their attempts.

It didn’t last.

With Boston leading early in the fourth, Irving got Brooklyn back in the mix with two straight 3-pointers and a layup to trim Boston’s advantage to 98-97 with just over 9 minutes left. Then, following an empty trip by Boston that saw Brown and Horford fail to convert from in close, Durant calmly drained a 3 on the other end to put the Nets in front.

Brooklyn had increased its lead to 107-102 when Durant was long with a jumper. Brown found space on the Celtics’ next possession and connected on a 3 from the wing. The Nets turned it back over on an offensive foul on Durant. Smart slid underneath Irving on Boston’s ensuring trip and tied it with a layup.

The score was tied again at 109 with less than 2 minutes left when Durant got a friendly bounce on a jumper to put Brooklyn back up. Horford’s follow shot tied it again. But Irving was good from deep on the next time down the floor give the Nets a 114-111 cushion.

Brown made a layup coming out of a timeout with 38 seconds left.

In his latest trip to face his former Boston teammates, Irving received the loudest jeers during pregame introductions and was booed whenever he touched the ball the rest of the way.

Fans also showered plenty disdain on Bruce Brown, who made headlines last week after suggesting Celtics big men Horford and Daniel Theis might be easy to attack inside without injured center Robert Williams III available to defend the rim.

Horford played the opening 12 minutes as if on a one-man mission to obliterate that notion.

Boston entered with the league’s best defensive rating since the All-Star break and applied early pressure on Durant. He tried to establish himself in the post in the first quarter, but the Celtics blitzed him with backside help defenders, stripping him three times.

Brooklyn finished with seven turnovers for the quarter, but it translated into only a 29-28 lead for Boston.

Horford was active throughout, going 3-for-4 from the field with 10 points, two rebounds and a steal.

Boston had to adjust early in the second quarter after Theis picked up his third foul. But things evened out when Drummond was whistled for his fourth foul with 4:58 left in the period.

The Celtics immediately went on a 9-2 run before the Nets clawed back to tie the game at 61 at the half.

ESPN Stats & Information and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Sports

Gregg Popovich gets into heated exchange with reporter, Jayson Tatum’s move to bench and other takeaways from USA basketball’s loss to Australia

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A look at some Team USA takeaways after the Americans dropped their second straight exhibition game 91-83 to Australia on Monday night in Las Vegas.

Gregg Popovich was not happy with a reporter’s line of questioning after the defeat

It’s only exhibition season but the Team USA head coach Gregg Popovich was not a fan of one reporter’s line of questioning on Monday night. He asked Damian Lillard about watching past USA Olympic teams dominate most other countries in past years, a far cry from the current team’s showing in the opening two exhibitions.

“It’s not the first time that I’ve seen Team USA be tested,” Lillard said. “Maybe not beat two times in a row, but I’ve seen it before. These other teams and these other countries just continue to improve. These players, they get better, they get more confident and they also want to beat us badly. It’s definitely noticeable when you’re on the court.”

However, Popovich decided he wasn’t going to let the question stand unchallenged. After Lillard finished his response, he decided to make a statement.

“Let me also answer that question,” Popovich declared. “You asked the same sort of question last time, you assume things that aren’t true.”

The reporter interrupted Popovich at this point, leading to a testy exchange between the pair.

“Are you gonna let me finish my statement or not?” Popovich repeated numerous times in the back and forth before the reporter relented. “So you’ll be quiet now while I talk. And then I’ll listen to you,”

“When you make statements about in the past, just blowing out these other teams … No. 1 you give no respect to the other teams. I talked to you last time about the same thing. We’ve had very close games against four or five countries in all these tournaments. So, the good teams do not get blown out. There are certain games it might happen in one of the tournaments, world championships and Olympics when somebody gets blown out but in general, nobody is blowing anybody out for the good teams. So, when you make a statement like that it’s like you assume that’s what’s going on and that’s incorrect.”

It’s clear Popovich did not want the blowout narrative to take hold by trying to take the reporter to task following a second straight defeat for USA Basketball. It’s rare to see such a heated exchange after an exhibition contest but it was a sign that Popovich wanted to defend his players from not living up to early expectations.

Jayson Tatum tries out a bench role

Jayson Tatum is one of the best players on Team USA Basketball. However, Gregg Popovich was searching for a bit of a different defensive look on Monday night on the heels of an ugly effort against Nigeria on Saturday.

He elected to send top talents Jayson Tatum and Bam Adebayo to the bench with Draymond Green and Jerami Grant inserted into the starting five, likely in an attempt to bring more of a versatile defensive edge to the starting five. Tatum’s offensive opportunities would also be more numerous with the second unit in theory with Damian Lillard, Bradley Beal and Kevin Durant all in the starting five.

Popovich’s plan worked well early as USA jumped out to a nine-point halftime lead but that momentum was unable to be sustained over 40 minutes.

“I thought we got better tonight,” said Popovich. “After a short time together, there’s a lot of things that have to be covered, but the first half and the second half were two different beasts.

“In the first half, we defended the way we wanted to defend. … We rebounded better. We moved the ball better at the offensive end and had more pace. In the second half, we tired out.”

Tatum was one of several players who struggled in the defeat, going just 4-of-12 from the field to score eight points. He added four assists and three rebounds over his 25 minutes in the reserve role. Whether Popovich sticks with Tatum coming off the bench will be an intriguing storyline to watch as the Olympics inch closer.

Patty Mills deserves a look from Boston this summer

With some of the best talents in the NBA suiting up for Team USA, it was an Australian point guard that ended up being the best player on the floor in crunch time on Monday night. Spurs guard Patty Mills finished with a game-high 22 points and a team-high four assists over his 30 minutes, helping Australia pull away with an 11-1 run over the final four minutes of the contest to seal the surprise win for the 16-point underdogs.

The 6-foot point guard is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer after spending his entire career with the Spurs. His mix of speed and passing vision led to easy buckets against Americans with the game on the line as he took advantage of USA’s lack of cohesion.

That type of versatility should make Mills an attractive target to Boston and several other contenders around the league this summer. The Spurs may be going in a younger direction with their roster, which could force Mills to find a new home. He has played several seasons under new Celtics head coach Ime Udoka and that could work well for the Celtics if they make a run at him with their mid-level exception.

It’s clear Brad Stevens is in need of some added point guard depth this summer after dealing away Kemba Walker and Mills’ effort on Monday night was a reminder that he can make an impact against some of the best talent in the world.



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