After beating the Pacers in their last game, the Bucks continued to face second-placed Celtics in the East at home today, only to lose 99-140 to the Celtics, suffering a 41-point defeat. The 41 points also tied the Bucks' biggest loss of the season, and the Bucks also lost 101-142 to their opponents in a trip to the West No. 2 Grizzlies on December 16, 2022.
It's really strange and incomprehensible that the Bucks, who have a record of first in the East and the league this season, can't beat the Celtics and Grizzlies, the two teams that are second in the East and West, and both lose by 41 points. After the crushing loss to the Celtics, the Bucks are only 2 wins ahead of them, and it is not easy to say whether they can finally finish first in the East.
In the last game, the Bucks were very firepower, scoring 149 points in the game, just one point away from tying the season high scoring record, Holladay cut 50+ quasi-triple-doubles, Alphabet Brother also got 35+ large triple-doubles, but today they all felt bad as a team, shooting 38 of 101, including 14 of 43 three-pointers. At the end of the third quarter, the Celtics led the Bucks by 40 points 114-74, and the Green Army combined for 70 points, and the Bucks scored only 74 points.
The Celtics duo were both very good today, Tatum played 30 minutes, shooting 12 of 18, 8 of 10 from three-point range, 8 of 8 from the free throw line, and scored a game-high 40 points and eight rebounds, +36. Tatum has made 40+ cuts in 22 times in his career, surpassing Pierce (21) and second only to Larry Bird (47) in team history. Jaylen Brown played 31 minutes, shooting 13-of-20, 3-of-5 from three-point range and 1-of-2 from the free throw line, contributing 30 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, +29.
Brogdon played 27 minutes off the bench, shooting 6-of-13 from the field, 0-of-4 from three-point range, 2-of-2 from the free throw line, and also had 14 points, three rebounds, five assists and four steals.
On the Bucks side, Alphabet Brother didn't feel good today, playing 25 minutes, shooting 11 of 27, 0 of 5 from three-point range, 2 of 3 from the free throw line, and only 24 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists. Since he was already 40 points behind at the end of the third quarter, Alphabet Brother did not play again in the final quarter.
Holladay was also in a slump today, playing 23 minutes, shooting 2 of 8, 2 of 4 from three-point range, only 6 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, 3 turnovers, plus or minus -24. Just yesterday, Holladay had just scored 51 points, breaking his career scoring record.