At 8:30 a.m. Beijing time on January 12, the NBA regular season ushered in a matchup between the top two favorite teams in the East, and the Celtics challenged the Bucks away. The Celtics had the upper hand in their last game against the Timberwolves, the No. 1 team in the West, improving their home record to 18-0. And the core leader Tatum is very satisfied with the current atmosphere of the Celtics, and he said that for the team to win, every player can do anything, which is a rare thing. So far this season, the Celtics have averaged the league's first 47.6 rebounds per game on the defensive end, as well as a league-high 6.4 blocks. On the offensive end, the Celtics are averaging 42.9 shots per game from the outside, which is also the most in the league.
The Bucks have seen a lot of fluctuation in form lately, especially losing to the Jazz by double-digit points in Lillard's absence. Although the Bucks have played the third in the league this season with an offensive efficiency of 120.3, the Bucks' entire guard line on the defensive end is very porous, resulting in the team's overall defensive efficiency of only 116.3, ranking ninth from the bottom in the league. And this extreme performance on both offensive and defensive ends is also the reason why the Bucks may collapse instantly due to the slump on the offensive end when facing a low-ranked team like the Jazz. The starting line-ups for this game on both sides, the Celtics used Brown, Tatum, Porzingis, Holiday and White. The Bucks fielded Antetokounmpo, Lillard, Beasley, Big Lopez and Middleton.
In the first quarter of the game, the Bucks' two giants made a concerted effort at the beginning, Lillard hit 2 three-pointers, and Brother Alphabet broke through to create 2+1 and scored 5 points in a row, playing a wave of 11-2 small climax. Celtic's Porzingis scored four consecutive points in the air, leading the team to respond with a wave of 10-5 to close the gap to three points. The two sides played back and forth, Hauser and Da Lopez responded with a three-pointer in response, and Porzingis and Portis grabbed the offensive board and made a basket. However, at the end of the game, Portis of the Bucks exploded on the offensive end, hitting two three-pointers in a row from the outside, scoring 11 points alone to stretch the difference to double digits. Beasley also followed up with a three-pointer from the outside, and the first quarter ended with the Celtics trailing the Bucks by 18 points, 23-41.
In the second quarter of the game, Portis scored 5 points with a burst shot, and Brother Alphabet still continued to hit the paint area. The Celtics' offense was in a slump across the board, and no one scored for nearly five minutes. The Bucks took advantage of the situation to play a 15-0 run to stretch the margin to 33 points. Celtics Brown and Holiday broke the scoring drought by breaking the basket, but the Bucks Lillard, Middleton and Big Lopez hit three three-pointers in a row from the outside. The Celtics' offense was in a slump again, hitting just one three-pointer from 17 attempts from beyond the arc at halftime. The Bucks, on the other hand, hit 11 three-pointers. At halftime, the Celtics trailed the Bucks by 38-75 by 37 points.
In the halftime data, Brother Alphabet scored 18 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 block on 8-of-11 shooting. Lillard finished with 17 points, four rebounds and four assists on 5-of-10 shooting. Beasley had 10 points and three rebounds. Big Lopez had 9 points and 4 rebounds. Portis finished with 16 points and nine rebounds on 6-of-10 shooting. Middleton had five points, one rebound and six assists. For the Celtics, Brown finished with 10 points, four rebounds and three assists on 5-of-14 shooting. Tatum had 7 points, 1 rebound and 3 assists. Porzingis had 6 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists. Holiday had six points and four rebounds. Brissett had four points and one rebound.
In the second half of the game, Celtic gave up the game early and the starting lineup was all withdrawn. Bucks Big Lopez scored four straight points under the basket, Lillard stepped back and hit a mid-range shot, and Brother Alphabet continued to attack the basket to make kills. The Celtics finally warmed up from the outside, Hauser, Pritchard, and Mikaeluk hit three three-pointers in a row, and although they still led by 35 points, the Bucks still cautiously called a timeout. After coming back, Beasley hit two three-pointers in a row and fell behind by as many as 43 points in less than half a quarter. The Celtics put three on the court again, with Mikaeluk and Hauser hitting two three-pointers. The Bucks Portis and Payne all responded. At the end of the third quarter, the Celtics trailed the Bucks by 41 points, 70-111.
In the final quarter of the game, the Celtics Banton and Hauser hit two three-pointers steadily, playing a wave of 10-2 counterattack small climax. But Portis of the Bucks quickly extinguished the Celtics' hopes of chasing points with a three-pointer, and the game lost suspense, and the Celtics finally lost 102-135 to the Bucks by 33 points.
In the game, Brown had 10 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists on 5-of-14 shooting. Tatum had seven points and three assists on 2-of-6 shooting. Porzingis finished with six points, two rebounds and four assists on 3-of-9 shooting. Hauser had 15 points and four rebounds. Brisett had 13 points and two rebounds. White had 2 points and 1 rebound. On the Bucks' side, he had 24 points, 12 rebounds and six assists on 10-of-13 shooting. Lillard finished with 21 points, four rebounds and four assists on 6-of-12 shooting. Beasley had 16 points and four rebounds. Da Lopez had 15 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Portis had 28 points and 12 rebounds on 11-of-18 shooting.