Celtics surprise Bucks, spoiling Giannis Antetokounmpo’s return

Giannis Antetokounmpo returned to the court after missing 15 games with a right calf injury, but his Milwaukee Bucks fell 108-81 to the visiting Boston Celtics on Monday night.

Payton Pritchard had a team-high 25 points and nine assists for the Celtics, who got career-highs of 18 points and 16 rebounds from rookie Hugo Gonzalez.

Derrick White added 18 points and nine assists for Boston, which hit 20 of 50 3-point attempts.

The Celtics played without leading scorer Jaylen Brown (illness) and starting center Nemias Cueta (rest). Brown averaged 29.0 points per game, while Cueta had 27 points and 17 rebounds in the Celtics’ Sunday win over the Philadelphia 76ers.

Antetokounmpo, playing for the first time since January 23, set team records with 19 points and 11 rebounds. He entered the game this season averaging 28.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 5.6 assists.

Milwaukee failed to score more than 23 points in any quarter and was ahead 25-16 in the fourth quarter. The Bucks, who shot 27 of 74 (36.5%) from the field, got 13 points from Ousmane Dieng and 12 from Bobby Portis. Kyle Kuzma was a healthy scratch.

Milwaukee scored the first seven points of the game, but fell behind 30-20 after the first quarter. Boston took a 22-point lead in the second quarter with White’s 3-pointer and led 57-43 at halftime.

The Bucks cut the deficit to nine points early in the third quarter, but then went on a 15-0 run to give Boston a 74-50 lead with 6:22 left in the quarter after Gonzalez’s fast-break layup. Milwaukee scored the next 10 points, but the Bucks fell behind 83-65 after three quarters.

Boston took its largest lead, 102-71, with 4 minutes and 6 seconds left following Pritchard’s 3-pointer.

This game is the third meeting between Boston and Milwaukee this season. The Bucks won 116-101 at home on December 11th, and the Celtics won 107-79 at home on February 1st.

–Field level media