Three Studs, Three Duds As the Celtics fend off bucks in playoff-like games

BOSTON – If the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks meet again this season, it will be in the postseason.

And Friday night felt like a playoff attempt between the two Eastern Conference foes.

The Celtics and Bucks battled in a back-and-forth contest — there were 14 lead changes in the game — before Boston rallied in the fourth quarter to earn a 111-105 victory at TD Garden. The Celtics swept three regular-season games against the Bucks, improving to 19-4 in the process. Milwaukee, which has won seven of its last eight games, fell to 11-11.

Here are three studs and three duds from the game when Boston’s stars really made the ultimate difference:

STUDIES
Jayson Tatum
Tatum gave his son a great performance as a birthday present. Tatum took over in the fourth quarter and made a handful of plays that changed the complexion of the contest. He started the frame by hitting a 3-pointer and then converting a four-point play, then made a layup to find Jrue Holiday for a game-sealing basket with 25.6 seconds left. Tatum scored 14 of his game-high 34 points in the fourth quarter and shot 12-for-20 from the field. He scored a double-double by grabbing 10 rebounds while also dishing out five assists.

Jaylen Brown
Brown brought an edge to his game on both ends of the court. He brought Damian Lillard into the backcourt in the first half, where he put a lot of pressure on the star guard and came close to causing a turnover. He also wasn’t afraid to mix it up again with Giannis Antetokounmpo. Brown scored low on Antetokounmpo just over a minute into the third quarter and gave him the “too low” gesture. The two then exchanged wordsresulting in a technical for Brown.

Brown maintained that tenacity to be an offensive leader on the night. He scored 25 points on 10-of-21 shooting to go along with three assists and three rebounds.

Damian Lillard
The Bucks star is a defensive liability — the Celtics often targeted Lillard — but he makes up for it on the other end of the court. Lillard showed why he is still one of the leading scorers in the NBA as he scored 20 of his team-high 31 points in the first half.

DUDS
Celtics performance in the second quarter
The Celtics have no problem launching 3-pointers, even when they don’t go down. And that’s what happened to Boston’s injury in the second quarter. After knocking down 7-of-16 treys in the opening frame, the Celtics shot a putrid 0-for-12 from beyond the arc in the second quarter. Tatum missed all six of his 3-point attempts in the quarter. The poor shooting allowed the Bucks to outscore the Celtics, 30-24, in the stanza and take a 57-53 lead into halftime.

Derrick White
The Celtics can usually expect a significant contribution from White against top contenders. However, it never came from White. He struggled to find his shot as he went an eye-popping 1-for-10 from the field and scored just six points.

Bobby Portis
Someone had to tell the Bucks’ big man to stop shooting Friday night. Portis went 2-for-12 from the field in the first half to become a black hole in Milwaukee’s offense. He seemed to get the message in the second half as he only attempted three shots. Portis had 18 rebounds in the game. He should have just stuck to that instead of trying to take on the role of goalscorer.