Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown star as Boston Celtics thrash Milwaukee Bucks by 41 points

MILWAUKEE – The clash of the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) two best teams came down to who were the more aggressive on Thursday night.

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined for 70 points as the Boston Celtics crushed the Milwaukee Bucks 140-99 in a one-sided clash at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.

Tatum produced a scintillating performance that included eight three-pointers in a 40-point haul, while Brown shot 13-of-20 to finish with 30 points as the Bucks were sent spinning to their heaviest loss of the season.

The defeat that left Milwaukee fans in stunned silence was a sobering reality check for the home side, who are leading the Eastern Conference and expected to claim top seeding in the play-offs.

Milwaukee (55-22) lead Boston (53-24) by two games with five regular-season fixtures remaining.

“We just wanted to be aggressive,” Brown said. “We wanted to come out and play good basketball and that’s what we did.”

Tempers flared in the closing stages of the blowout, with Milwaukee’s Thanasis Antetokounmpo ejected for aiming a headbutt at Boston’s Blake Griffin.

“It’s that time of year,” Brown added.

“We’re all getting ready for the play-offs. It’s backs against the wall and survival of the fittest. We want to be the last team on top and they’re one of the teams we’ve got to go through.”

Tatum was in no mood to wallow in the victory, pointing out that Boston face another road game on Friday against Utah.

“We have to forget about tonight. We want to show how good of a team we are by the way we respond tomorrow,” he said. “That’s all that matters at this point.”

Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who had 24 points, said the result was a timely reminder of what might happen in the play-offs if the two sides met again, possibly in the Eastern Conference Finals.

“We know what the deal is. It’s not hard to understand. If you’re not focused, if you don’t play hard, they’re going to kick our ass,” he said. “Simple as that. They did it tonight and won by 41. If you don’t go out there to make it tough for them, they’re going to kick our ass. It’s a fact.

“Now we have this in our head, and it’s up to us to see how we deal with it.”

The contest was effectively all but finished in the third quarter, with the Celtics racing away to a 44-point lead at one stage.

Boston were up by 40 points entering the fourth quarter, allowing head coach Joe Mazzulla to rest Tatum, Brown and other starters.

Still, the Celtics kept up the pressure, extending their lead to 49 points midway through the fourth.

While Boston departed Milwaukee with a confidence-boosting win, the Bucks were left with plenty of food for thought after an iron-clad Celtics defensive effort shut down the home side’s scorers.

Besides Antetokounmpo’s 24 points and Khris Middleton’s 13, no other Milwaukee starter cracked double figures. AFP