Paul George scored 25 points and Derrick White added 24 to lead the Boston Celtics to a 109-102 victory over the visiting Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday.
The game was tied at 97 with 4:04 remaining, but Boston scored the next seven points. Milwaukee, which erased a 22-point second-half deficit, never got closer than five points the rest of the way.
Tyler Herro led Milwaukee with 25 points, while Jaime Jaquez finished with 18.
The loss extended Milwaukee’s losing streak to four games.
The Celtics elected to rest leading scorer Jayson Tatum, who is averaging 27.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 7.9 assists per game in seven contests. Payton Pritchard (10 points) went to the locker room in the second half with a right eye abrasion and did not return.
Milwaukee trailed by four when Boston went on a 15-0 run to take a 27-8 lead with 2:26 remaining in the first quarter. George scored 10 points in the opening quarter, when Milwaukee missed nine of its 12 3-point attempts.
The Celtics led 53-32 following a Luka Garza tip-in with 3:15 remaining in the second quarter and took a 62-40 advantage into halftime. The 22-point margin was Boston’s largest lead of the half.
Boston made 10 of 17 3-point attempts (58.8%) in the first half.
Milwaukee trimmed its deficit to seven when a Herro layup made it 74-67 with 5:38 remaining in the third quarter. Boston’s lead was five (80-75) following an 8-0 run capped by a Ryan Rollins layup with 2:21 left in the period. Milwaukee scored 38 points in the third and trailed 87-79 entering the final 12 minutes.
Things got more uncomfortable for Boston after a Rollins dunk pulled Milwaukee within two points (91-89) with 8:18 remaining. The Bucks took their first lead on two Nate Ament free throws for a 92-91 advantage.
