See what Giannis Antetokounmpo has to say as the Bucks lost to the Celtics.
The Milwaukee Bucks suffered a 140-99 loss to the Boston Celtics in an NBA fixture played in the early hours of Friday, March 31, 2023.
The Bucks were playing in front of their home fans at the Fiserv Forum, Wisconsin on the second night of a back-to-back.
The Celtics aimed to bounce back from a defeat to Washington Wizards while the Bucks targeted a win to stretch their lead at the top of the Eastern Conference.
Celtics stomp Bucks
The Celtics took a hot start and established an eight-point lead at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter was a total annihilation for the Bucks as the Celtics dropped 41 points to extend their lead by 28 going to the halftime break.
The Celtics led by All-Star Jayson Tatum came back from the break to put the game past the Bucks extending their lead to 40.
In the fourth quarter, both teams put it their second unit to close out the game as the Celtics held on for a 41-point victory.
Giannis Antetokounmpo struggles as Bucks lose to the Celtics
Greek-Nigerian professional basketball player Giannis Sina Antetokounmpo was not at his best for the Milwaukee Bucks in the loss to the Boston Celtics.
The 28-year-old produced 24 points, seven rebounds, two assists, one steal, and one block.
In 26 minutes of action, Antetokounmpo made 11 of his 27 shots, could not make any of his five three-point attempts, and made two of three from the free-throw line.
Celtics hold tiebreaker against Bucks
The victory for the Celtics means they established the tiebreaker against the Bucks.
The Celtics have defeated the Bucks in all two of the three matchups this season.
The Celtics with the victory are now just two games behind the Bucks in the Eastern Conference to go.
Giannis Antetokounmpo on the Bucks loss to Celtics
Antetokounmpo at the post-game press conference analyzed how the Bucks struggled against the Celtics in all three matchups this season.
The Celtics have been a nightmare match-up for the Bucks in recent times as they knocked them out of the playoffs last season.
The two-time NBA MVP explained that the Celtics are always afforded good looks from three-point range which blows the game out of reach.
He said, "Driving kicks creating of the dribble threes for themselves transition trees, offensive rebound threes and just a bunch of trees.
"We haven't done a good job taking those away uh hopefully next time we play them we can take it away.
"We know what the deal is you know it's not it's not hard to understand.
"If you're not focused if you don't play hard they're going kick you simple as that they did it tonight."
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The Celtics and Bucks have met for the final time this season and can only cross paths beyond the first round of the 2023 NBA playoffs.
The Bucks after a tough back-to-back return to action against another Eastern Conference rival in the Philadelphia 76ers scheduled for Sunday, April 2, 2023.
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