Boston gets boost from bench in beating Bucks
BOSTON—Jaylen Brown scored 30 points while Payton Pritchard came off the bench and hit eight three-pointers as the Boston Celtics beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 119-108, on Monday night.
“Good night, good win. Good team win,” Pritchard, who had 28 points, said. “If we just play the right way—drive, kick, make the simple passes—the shots are going to fall. So I’m just trying to play the right way and make the right reads, regardless.”
Reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Week Jayson Tatum added 15 points and eight rebounds as Boston won its fourth straight game to start the season. Tatum struggled with his shot, missing 10 of his 16 shots, including a 1-for-8 performance from beyond the arc.
Derrick White had 13 points and eight assists as the Celtics got a lot of hustle plays from its bench, including Jordan Walsh, who had two key offensive rebounds in a spirited run that had the defending champions pulling away.
“The second unit is the whole bench,” Boston coach Joe Mazzulla. “We made it very clear how important those group of guys are. And it’s going to look different every night. And it’s a credit to them because they stay ready. And it’s a credit to the staff for getting them ready.
“They have the humility and the professionalism to always stay ready.”
Scoring spree
Damian Lillard led the Bucks with 33 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, and Giannis Antetokounmpo had 30 points, 10 boards and six assists. Milwaukee has lost three straight after winning its opener.
It was close until late in the third quarter, when Pritchard hit a three-pointer with 0.4 seconds left, putting Boston ahead, 90-82.
The Celtics scored the next seven points for a 15-point lead. Pritchard hit another three-pointer during the spree.
The Bucks led 80-79 before the Celtics went on an 18-2 run that spanned the final two minutes of the third quarter and the opening 1:37 of the fourth.
Brown, who was 10-of-19 from the field despite missing all four attempts from beyond the arc, said the reigning NBA kings need to polish their performances if they want to keep their streak going.
“We’re still learning and building and growing,” Brown said. “There are definitely some stuff we’ve seen in the last few games that we can clean up.
“That’s part of our journey. It’s a fight every single night to do our job and to do it well.”
Pritchard was eight of 12 on three-pointers and fell one short of his career-high of nine, set on April 9, 2023.
“Peyton’s a killer,” Brown said. “He’s always looking to put pressure on the defense and if you don’t guard him, he’ll light you up.”
For Pritchard, however, all that matters is he fleshes a role pinned on him by the coaching staff.
“It’s really about the energy I gotta bring every game, especially coming off the bench,” he said. “Some nights our starters have low energy, it’s a long season, and It’s my responsibility to bring it [on those] nights.”
In Phoenix, Devin Booker scored 33 points, Kevin Durant added 30 and the Phoenix Suns rallied to beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 109-105.
The Lakers took an 83-76 advantage into the fourth, but couldn’t hold on, suffering their first loss of the season after winning three in a row. Durant made back-to-back jumpers to give the Suns a 105-101 lead with 2:17 left.
LeBron James responded with a three-pointer with 1:58 left to cut the margin to 105-104, but the Lakers never regained the lead. James finished with 11 points, narrowly extending his NBA-record streak of at least 10 points in a game to 1,226.
The Suns bounced back from an early 18-point deficit to get the win. The Lakers beat the Suns, 123-116, on Friday at home after climbing out of an early 22-point hole.
