Final: Bucks 120, Celtics 107 -- Huge first half run leads to easy win for Milwaukee

The Celtics were without three of their top nine players on Friday night and the Bucks played a tier above them for the better part of 48 minutes. Giannis Antetokounmpo had a game-high 30 points while Khris Middleton added 21 points as the visitors used a 57-22 first half run to cruise to a 120-107 victory. It was the third straight loss for Boston, which drops the hosts to the fifth seed in the East and 5.5 games behind the Raptors.

Jaylen Brown had a team-high 21 points for Boston off the bench but that was one of the few bright spots on the night for the Green after they blew an early 10-1 lead. The team shot a season-low 38.5 percent at home and knocked down just 29 percent of their 30-point attempts as Jayson Tatum, Gordon Hayward and Terry Rozier all struggled mightily.

The Celtics will be back at it on Sunday night as they try to snap a three-game losing streak against the Hornets at the Garden.

First Half Notes

• The Celtics' start almost mirrored their first two minutes against the Suns, jumping out to a 10-1 lead behind good ball movement, solid defensive rotation and a surprise starting lineup that had Semi Ojeleye playing the 5 and Gordon Hayward guarding Brook Lopez with Ojeleye on Antetokounmpo.


• It all fell apart pretty quickly though after a quick timeout by Budenholtzer as Boston's offense went ice cold while the Bucks started attacking the basket with authority.


• Milwaukee put together a 16-0 run to re-take the lead and then proceeded to demolish the Celtics over the next 18 minutes with a 57-22 run behind the hot shooting of Middleton, Tony Snell and Thon Maker.


• Effort issues were definitely apparent in the midst of the run for Boston as they were having their butt handed to them on the offensive glass, missed


• Tatum's been a net negative in the offense tonight with a lot of pull up 2s that are contested. Gordon Hayward was absolutely brutal (1-of-7) early as the C's fell behind by as many as 26 points in the middle of the second quarter and heard plenty of boos from the Garden crowd.


• Jaylen Brown helped propel the C's back into the game with some energy in transition to cut the deficit to 16 at halftime. Stevens also threw some lineups out there with no chance as Guerschon Yabusele does not belong on the floor against a Bucks team of this caliber, even with the C's shorthanded.

• Al Horford (knee), Marcus Morris (knee) and Aron Baynes (hand) will leave the Celtics very shorthanded up front. Guerschon Yabusele will be back after missing two weeks with a sprained ankle, making him one of the three true active bigs healthy on the roster (Williams, Theis).


• Ersan Ilyasova will be out with the Bucks due to a broken nose. Look for plenty of minutes for DJ Wilson off the bench in his place.


• Full analysis of the matchup: 4 keys for undermanned Celtics in showdown with Bucks