Celtics answered a big question with clutch win over Bucks

When the notification hit that Jayson Tatum would be resting Wednesday’s game against the Bucks, I couldn’t have been less moved.

Milwaukee is bad. The Celtics shouldn’t have any problem taking care of business, right?

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Well…

Ultimately, they managed to get across the finish line, but the path there wasn’t as pretty as many would’ve hoped. The Cs found themselves in a fourth-quarter dogfight despite leading the one-win Bucks by 22 points earlier in the game.

This scenario was more suprising than it should’ve been. Tatum has done a lot for this Boston team. Key role players like Payton Pritchard and Derrick White haven’t played at the height of their offensive abilities so far this season, and you’ve felt it.

Take Monday’s loss to the Rockets in Houston for example. Paul George had the night off on the second leg of a back-to-back, and the vet was dearly missed. Whenever Tatum headed to the bench, Houston gained more and more leverage until they were in complete control of the matchup in the second half.

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In a game where the Celtics lost by 16, Tatum was still a +1 when he was on the floor.

Flash forward back to the matchup with Milwaukee. Boston was forced to fight their way out of a tough situation without their offensive hub.

They did it.

A Brayden Burries floater gave Milwaukee a 96-95 lead over Boston with 4:54 to play in regulation. All of the momentum was with the Bucks as they continued to light the nets on fire with their efficient shot-making. Anytime the Cs squandered opportunities on the offensive end, it felt like it came back to bite them with a Bucks bucket.

It felt like it was going to be a classic “the Celtics can’t close out close games” game. But instead of squandering what should’ve been a surefire win, they let their vets lead the way and finished the night with a 14-6 run over the final five minutes.

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George and White weren’t perfect, but they were good enough. The two combined to score 20 of Boston’s 22 fourth-quarter points, and each made some tough shots to ice the game.

Look, I’m not going to try and spin a narrow win against one of the league’s worst into a…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/celtics-answered-big-clutch-win-130000014.html

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Publish date : 2026-11-05 13:00:00

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