BOSTON (AP) — Jaylen Brown had 30 points and 13 rebounds, Anfernee Simons scored 27 points off the bench and the Boston Celtics coasted to a 107-79 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday.
Derrick White added 17 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, and Neemias Queta had 14 points and eight boards as the Celtics won their second straight game after alternating wins and losses in their previous four. It was Brown’s third double-double this season.
Ryan Rollins led Milwaukee with 25 points and Kyle Kuzma scored 16.
With trade rumors swirling around their sidelined star Giannis Antetokoumpo, the Bucks didn’t miss a shot in the opening 2½ minutes (5 for 5) and pulled ahead 12-0 before Boston sent them to their fifth straight loss.
Antetokoumpo strained his right calf on Jan. 23 and there’s no timeline for his return.
The Celtics led 56-42 at halftime and Brown, who missed their easy win over Sacramento Friday with left hamstring tightness and a bruised right knee, scored 10 of their initial 12 points to start the second half, pushing them ahead 68-47.
Boston’s lead ballooned to 27 points on Brown’s 3-pointer midway into the final quarter before coach Joe Mazzulla pulled his starters.
Simons gave the Celtics a jolt offensively in the opening half, scoring 14 points — 11 in the opening quarter — that included consecutive 3-pointers in the closing minute of the first.
The game was the inaugural NBA Pioneers Classic, honoring the 75th anniversary of the debut seasons of league’s first Black players: Chuck Cooper, Earl Lloyd and Nathaniel “Sweetwater” Clifton.
Both teams wore commemorative jersey patches and warmup shirts. The players were honored on the first day of Black History Month.
Brown addressed the crowd pregame, saying: “Who will be this generation’s pioneers?”
Up next
Bucks: Host Chicago on Tuesday.
Celtics: At Dallas on Tuesday.
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