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The Milwaukee Bucks snapped the Celtics three game win streak with their 6th win in their last 7 games. Jason Kidd struggled early last year in Brooklyn as a rookie head coach, but you have to be impressed with what he's done to turn this Bucks team around. They went from having the league's worst record a season ago to their current spot as the 6th seed in the East, while forging a defensive identity that has them ranked second in the league in Defensive Efficiency (99.1).
Boston staged a late rally to cut the score to a one point game late in the 4th quarter, but Brandon Knight came through with a step-back jumper with just under 7 seconds left to cap off his game-high 26 point night. When Milwaukee decided not to foul while protecting a three point lead, Jae Crowder managed to get off a desperation three as the clock was winding down, but his shot came up short.
Giannis Antetokounmpo entered having set new career highs in scoring in each of his past two games. He finished with 14 tonight, but stuffed the stat sheet with 11 rebounds and 5 assists to go along with a couple of blocks and several rim-rattling dunks. The 20-year old often looked like a - excuse the expression - deer in headlights as a wide-eyed rookie last year, but he's showing a lot more confidence in his second season.
The Celtics kept the came close for most of the game and managed to chip away at the lead in the second half. Marcus Thornton was once again a spark plug off the bench, pouring in 14 points to lead a bench unit that produced 42 points collectively.
Despite a fairly quite second half, Jared Sullinger still managed to lead the Celtics in scoring with 17 points on 8-for-14 shooting. Unfortunately he missed all three of his shots from beyond the arc, including one from the top of the key that would have tied the game late in the fourth quarter.
Boston trailed by as much as 14 at one point in this game, yet still had a chance to steal a win in the closing minute. After coming up just short, the Celtics have now lost 29 straight games when having trailed by 13+ points.