– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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BOSTON — Jayson Tatum, all of 26 years young, woke up and felt old today, to his admission after tonight’s game. His son, Deuce, a mainstay on the court as much as his dad, at least in pregame warmups, was celebrating his seventh birthday.
Giannis Antetokounmpo woke up today also having completed another trip around the sun, his 30th, and one of his birthday presents was seeing his team whole again for one of the few times since his squad became a “super team” before the beginning of last season.
At the end of the festivities on the court, it was Tatum and his family that was able to make the birthday wish of a statement victory on national television come true.
Tatum scored 34 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the Celtics turned up their game in the final stages to defeat the Milwaukee Bucks 111-105 inside TD Garden on Friday night. Jaylen Brown added 25 points as Boston won its third game in a row overall and their ninth straight against the Bucks at home.
Tonight marked the season debut of Bucks forward Khris Middleton, who missed the first 21 games of the season due to offseason ankle surgeries, and he partnered with Antetokounmpo and star guard Damian Lillard on the court for just the 43rd time since the Lillard joined the team before the start of last season via trade. And for large stretches of the game, the Bucks had the lead on the defending champions, looking to get back in the win column after seeing their seven-game winning streak snapped on Wednesday at home against Atlanta.
Instead, it was the Celtics, without Kristaps Porzingis, who executed better down the stretch of the seesaw affair, outscoring the Bucks 16-6 in the final 5:30 of the contest as Boston forced Milwaukee to miss 12 of its last 13 field goal attempts. Meanwhile, the Celtics made six of their final nine shots, with only one of those coming behind the arc. (Boston made 17 threes in the contest overall.)
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Friday evening’s game, with photos taken by ALOST staff photographer Erica Denhoff. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page, Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 34 pictures in total.
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