The Celtics had this one in hand, then almost let it slip away.
Boston opened up a 22-point cushion and carried a 21-point lead into halftime Wednesday night, only to watch Milwaukee storm back and turn the fourth quarter into a real problem. In the end, the Celtics steadied themselves just enough to escape with a 109-102 win, moving to 6-2 overall and 5-0 at TD Garden.
Derrick White was the guy who kept the collapse from becoming a disaster.
Milwaukee grabbed its first lead at 92-91 after Nate Ament hit a free throw in the fourth quarter, and the Bucks kept pressing from there. The game was tied at 97 with a little more than four minutes left before White took over in the moments Boston needed him most.
His three-point play put the Celtics ahead 102-97 with 2:22 to go, and he added another basket to push the margin out a bit more. Paul George then drilled a big three-pointer to help Boston finally create some breathing room.
White finished with 24 points and seven assists. George led Boston with 25 points and five made three-pointers.
Even with the win, this was not a clean night for the Celtics.
Jayson Tatum sat out for rest, and Payton Pritchard left in the second half with a right-eye abrasion. That made the late-game burden heavier on White and George, especially once Milwaukee started chipping away at the lead.
Boston’s third quarter was the other warning sign. The Celtics gave up 38 points in the period, letting a game they controlled early get much tighter than it ever should have been. Tyler Herro led the Bucks with 25 points, including 18 in that third quarter burst.
The Celtics got the result they needed, particularly with Tatum unavailable, but they also got a reminder that a huge lead means nothing if it doesn’t get finished. That lesson now travels with them into Friday’s road game against Charlotte.
In Other News...
Derrick Whites Slump Is Still Bugging Celtics For One Big Reason
Derrick Whites long-range touch has been one of the quieter concerns around Boston early on, even as the Celtics have kept winning and the offense has stayed productive. His three-point percentage has trended down from 38.4% in recent seasons to 29.3% this year, a dip that stands out because so much of Bostons spacing and ball movement depends on guards and wings who can punish defenses from deep.
There is a reason the Celtics have not been knocked off course by it, though. Whites overall shooting from the field has improved, and Bostons offense remains strong enough to absorb a cold stretch from one of its most important perimeter pieces. The bigger question is what happens if White finds his previous form again, because even a modest rebound there would give an already dangerous attack another layer defenses have to account for. [Read more 🡒]
Paul George Concern Is Already Hanging Over Bostons Biggest Gamble
Bostons blockbuster swap of Jaylen Brown for Paul George brought instant star power, but it also brought the kind of long-view anxiety that tends to follow a veteran wing with mileage on the clock. George has been productive early, giving the Celtics the kind of two-way presence they were clearly chasing, yet the trade has already been framed around a bigger question than his opening weeks: how much can Boston ask of him before the season starts asking back?
That concern is especially pointed because the Celtics did not make this move for October alone. The real test is whether George can still look like himself when the games matter most in the spring, and some around the league are already wondering how carefully Boston will have to manage his workload to get there. For a team that pushed its chips in, the gamble is less about what George can do now than whether he can hold up long enough to make the deal look right when the playoffs arrive. [Read more 🡒]
Celtics Have A Fourth Quarter Problem Fans Can't Ignore
The Celtics have done plenty right through eight games to sit at 6-2, but the closing minutes keep undercutting the bigger picture. A team that has built leads early and often has not been nearly as secure when the game tightens up late, with opponents repeatedly finding room to chip away in the fourth quarter and turn comfortable margins into uneasy finishes.
The common thread has been hard to miss for anyone tracking the rotations and the defensive possessions that follow. Bostons late-game issues have shown up most clearly on the perimeter, where opponents have been able to generate the kind of looks that fuel comeback runs, and the lineup combinations used in those stretches are starting to draw scrutiny for whether they are holding up well enough when the legs get heavy. [Read more 🡒]