– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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BOSTON — For the next six months, the best team in the NBA unequivocally will need to find more sources of motivation to come with their best efforts night in and night out to ward off complacency. We don’t want to speak for one of the Celtics players on Monday night, who just happens to be the reigning NBA Finals Most Valuable Player, but a glance toward press row on center court would have provided the perfect chip onto the broad shoulders that eventually helped lead Boston to its latest victory to start the new season.
Jaylen Brown led all Boston scorers with 30 points while Payton Pritchard added 28 off the bench as the Celtics defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 119-108 on Monday night inside TD Garden. One of Pritchard’s eight three-pointers came with 0.4 seconds remaining in the third quarter to give the Celtics a 90-82 lead, then Boston scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter to take control as the defending NBA champions won their third game in as many attempts to begin the new campaign.
Brown’s summer started with him winning his first NBA championship along with many of his teammates, but that ecstasy quickly morphed into controversy given his omission from Team USA’s Olympic roster that eventually won the gold medal in Paris, made more newsworthy when he was overlooked to replace Kawhi Leonard on the roster as Brown’s teammate, Derrick White, was selected in Leonard’s place. The person who made those decisions as general manager of Team USA basketball, Grant Hill, was courtside as the color commentator on the NBA TV broadcast of the game.
Hill had a front-row seat to Brown scoring 12 of his points in the third quarter, making five of his six shots from the field as Boston outscored the Bucks 37-26 in the frame. The Bucks led 80-79 late in that period before the Celtics went on an 18-2 run that spanned the final two minutes of the third quarter and the opening 1:37 of the fourth.
Pritchard went 8-for-12 from beyond the arc and fell one short of his career high of nine threes, set on April 9, 2023 against the Atlanta Hawks in a game where he recorded his first career triple-double.
Damian Lillard led Milwaukee with 33 points while Giannis Antetokounmpo had 30 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. After winning their opener, the Bucks have lost three straight.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Monday 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 37 pictures in total.
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