The shorthanded Boston Celtics collapsed down the stretch against the Milwaukee Bucks on Christmas Day, as an early 19-point lead evaporated in a road loss to fall back below .500.
A gutsy effort with so many players unavailable? In some ways. Here are some other takeaways from Boston's loss at Fiserv Forum:An astounding nine players were out of the lineup for the Celtics on Christmas Day due to health and safety protocols.
While only one starter was missing, Al Horford, the trickledown effect on the remainder of the rotation led to some tired legs down the stretch at Fiserv Forum. Marcus Smart and Jayson Tatum each topped 40 minutes, Robert Williams III played 39 and Jaylen Brown,Romeo Langford, Boston's fifth starter, played 26 minutes . Payton Pritchard played 30 minutes off the bench and Juancho Hernangomez and former Buck Jabari Parker were the only other players to see the floor for the Green.
The other four players available for the Celtics, including Joe Johnson, Al-Farouq Aminu, Norvel Pelle and Brodric Thomas, did not see the floor.Great players do great things, and even though he hadn't played in nearly two weeks, rust was no issue for Antetokounmpo. Despite playing just 30 minutes, Giannis turned in a 36-point, 12-rebound masterpiece with five assists and his fair share of impact plays on the defensive end, including this block of the Time Lord to help Milwaukee maintain a 116-113 lead with less than 10 seconds left:Nothing new.
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