A battle of NBA heavyweights was scheduled for Thursday, as the two best teams in the Eastern Conference were set to face off. The Boston Celtics were on the second night of a back-to-back, and their fatigue showed early as the Milwaukee Bucks had the most dominant first half we’ve seen from any team so far this season.
Bucks leap to most dominant first half of NBA season
The Bucks outscored the Celtics by 37 points in the first half 😱 pic.twitter.com/mGsSQpJc7h
– ESPN BET (@ESPNBet) January 12, 2024
The first six minutes started off fairly normally, as a Kristaps Porzingis dunk just over 5 minutes in cut the Bucks’ lead to 21-17. But Milwaukee ended the first quarter on a 20-6 run and continued the attack once the second quarter began. Jayson Tatum and company went completely cold in the second frame, scoring only 15 points and giving up 34 to the Bucks. Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 18 points at halftime, more than Tatum, Porzingis and Derrick White combined.
When the halftime buzzer sounded, the Bucks had opened up a 37-point lead, the largest first-half margin in the NBA so far this season. It was the Celtics’ largest first-half deficit since 1967, and the second largest in their franchise’s history.
The Celtics essentially gave up at halftime
CELTICS FACE THEIR BIGGEST HALFTIME DEFICIT SINCE 1967 😳 pic.twitter.com/Mv2Zd8rsJ3
– SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 12, 2024
Things were so bad that head coach Joe Mazzulla made a complete lineup change midway through. Instead of seeing Tatum, Jaylen Brown and the rest of the starters, Mazzulla emptied the bench and had the reserves take over for the third quarter. According to TNT’s sideline report, all five starters were done that night as Boston waved the white flag due to an insurmountable Milwaukee lead.
The dominant performance was much needed for the Bucks. They entered the game having lost four of their last five games, including two against the Pacers and most recently against the Jazz, and had fallen to four games behind the Celtics in the Eastern Conference standings.
But victory will help close the gap. As for Boston, he will mark his second loss in the last three games, with Wednesday night’s overtime win against the Timberwolves likely to blame for tired legs. They will fly home after the game and take a day off before playing the Rockets on Saturday.
