Jrue Holiday’s 40-point night highlights Bucks’ 131-125 overtime victory over Celtics
Jrue #Jrue
Jae Crowder talks about how he became a Milwaukee Buck
Click to expand
UP NEXT
The Milwaukee Bucks won their 11th straight game Tuesday night with a 131-125 overtime victory over the Boston Celtics at Fiserv Forum, which tied Memphis for the second-longest winning streak in the league this season. Brooklyn (12) had the longest stretch of wins at any point this year.
It is the longest winning streak by a Bucks team since the 2019-20 edition won 18 in a row.
Jrue Holiday’s career night bails out Bucks
Get daily updates on the Packers during the season.
The Bucks completed a 3-0 road trip with back-to-back wins in Los Angeles last Thursday and Friday, but after two days off and a practice on Monday they could not keep their rhythm against Boston. In falling behind by as many as 14 in the third quarter, the Bucks gave the ball away (16 turnovers for 25 Celtics points) and kept the officials busy (16 personal fouls) – which allowed the Celtics to put up 10 more shots.
But, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday helped the Bucks close the quarter on a 12-3 run to head into the fourth down 95-90.
Khris Middleton then got in the act and scored five straight to open the fourth and Antetokounmpo added four more to effectively reset the game.
BOX SCORE: Bucks 131, Celtics 125
Boston continued to hang tough but in about a four-minute stretch the Big Three combined to score 15 straight points to give the Bucks a 116-113 lead with 7.4 seconds left.
They couldn’t close it out, however, as Sam Hauser sent the game to overtime by hitting a 29-foot three-pointer over Middleton.
Overtime was Holiday’s time, though.
The point guard came up with two of his three steals in the extra session, including a strip of Derrick White that led to a transition dunk over White to pull the Bucks to 123-122. Holiday then hit the eventual game-winner with his career-high eighth three-pointer with 25.2 seconds left to make it 127-125.
The play came off a swing pass from Pat Connaughton after a drive-and-kick from Antetokounmpo collapsed the defense.
Holiday was 8 for 12 from deep and tied a career-high with 40 points. He was 13 for 21 overall and also recorded six assists.
Antetokounmpo finished the Celtics off by stripping Grant Williams with 3.9 seconds left, and the Bucks’ star scored the game’s final four points. Antetokounmpo finished with 36 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists. He was 12 for 26 from the field, but 11 for 19 from the free throw line. Despite early struggles from the line, he was a perfect 4 for 4 in overtime.
Middleton finished with 16 points, 11 rebounds and four assists off the bench.
Grayson Allen added 13 for the Bucks.
More: A question and answer with Jae Crowder, the newest member of the Milwaukee Bucks
Celtics hang tough without stars Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and more
Boston was shorthanded Tuesday night as the star backcourt trio of Jayson Tatum (non-COVID illness), Jaylen Brown (facial fracture) and Marcus Smart (ankle sprain) all sat out. They were also missing big man Al Horford, and the Celtics elected to severely limit the minutes of fellow big Robert Williams III.
But, like the similarly depleted Denver Nuggets on Jan. 25 and the Los Angeles Lakers on Feb. 9, the Celtics still gave the Bucks all they could handle. Reigning Eastern Conference player of the week Derrick White scored 27 points and handed out 12 assists while former Bucks point guard Malcolm Brogdon came off the bench to score 26. Hauser, a native of Stevens Point, scored 15, including a 29-footer over Middleton to send the game to overtime.
Newly acquired big man Mike Muscala scored 18 for Boston, and Blake Griffin (15) and Grant Williams (12) also reached double figures.
The Celtics led most of the first half and trailed 64-63 in large part to the Bucks’ inability to hold onto the ball, as the Celtics scored 16 points on 11 Bucks giveaways. Boston also made 8 of its 10 free throws while Milwaukee was just 6 for 10. They also didn’t wilt down the stretch when the Bucks made charges to take the lead, including a 113-107 advantage with 3:53 to go.
White and Brogdon helped the Celtics take a 123-118 lead early in the overtime period, too.
Scary moment for Giannis in fourth quarter
With 1 minute, 51 seconds left in the game Antetokounmpo drove to the basket through contact, and he went down in obvious pain for a few moments. The Bucks called time for trainer Scott Faust to attend to him, and the Bucks’ star laid flat on his back to collect himself. He then tapped his forehead with two fists before getting up – and he stayed in the game.
He then went right back to the basket and drew a foul, making 1 of 2 free throws with 1:21 to go.
Antetokounmpo has been listed on the injury report with right knee soreness since Jan. 27.
Five numbers
6-0 Bucks record in February, with 3-0 marks on the road and at home. They began the season with a 6-0 mark in October.
20-8 Bucks record vs. teams with a .500 record on the day of the game.46 Place, all-time on the assists list for Holiday. With his seven assists against the Celtics he passed Boston Hall of Famer Larry Bird for that spot. Holiday passed Bird with his assist of a Khris Middleton jumper with 2:40 to go in the first quarter.
48 Feet of Holiday’s buzzer-beater to end the third quarter, cutting the Bucks deficit to 95-90 to begin the fourth. It was Holiday’s fifth, three-pointer of the game.
56.4 Percent of Boston’s offense that was missing Tuesday night with the absences of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart and Al Horford.
Video of the game is Jae Crowder’s introduction
New Bucks forward Jae Crowder isn’t going to play until after the all-star break, but he was on the bench Tuesday night and the team introduced him with a highlight video and a shot on the big screen.
Play of the game is Jrue Holiday’s buzzer beater
On paper, the Bucks should have not had a problem with the Celtics on Tuesday but the reserves for the top team in the East had something to say about that and took a 14-point lead late into the third quarter. But, the Bucks began to claw back and Holiday put a punctuation mark on it with a 48-footer to pull the Bucks within five and get the home arena rocking. And even though the quarter ended, Milwaukee took some of that juice into the fourth quarter and opened with nine straight points.
Bucks injury report
Who do the Bucks play next?
Milwaukee finishes up the “first half” of the season on Thursday when it heads to Chicago to play the Bulls at the United Center at 6:30 p.m. The Bucks are 0-2 against the Bulls, who are an under .500 team. Chicago is lead by all-star DeMar DeRozan and former all-stars Zach LaVine and Nikola Vučević.
Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Jrue Holiday’s 40-point night highlights Bucks’ 131-125 overtime victory over Celtics