The Boston Celtics entered Thursday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks as heavy road favorites, and for good reason. They’d won five in a row, 10 of their last 12 and were coming off three days of rest — their longest break in nearly a month.
Meanwhile, the Bucks had lost 10 of their last 12 and were once again without Giannis Antetokounmpo, who remains sidelined with a calf injury.
With all the momentum on their side, the Celtics came out strong, scoring 35 points in the first quarter and taking a 67-60 lead into halftime thanks to a stellar first half by Jordan Walsh. They clearly looked like the better team and appeared well on their way to a sixth straight win.
Instead, Boston’s shooting went ice-cold in the second half, allowing Milwaukee to rally for a shocking 116-101 upset.
The Celtics crumbled after halftime, scoring just 13 points in the third quarter and 34 points in the second half. In other words, they scored more points during the first quarter than they did in the entire second half.
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Boston couldn’t hit a 3-pointer to save its life, shooting just 3-for-27 from distance in the second half. The Celtics finished 14-of-49 (28.6 percent) from beyond the arc and shot only 38.6 percent from the floor overall — their worst field-goal percentage of the season thus far.
There were multiple culprits for Boston’s shooting woes, including Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, Anfernee Simons and Sam Hauser. Hauser missed all 10 of his field goal attempts (including nine 3-pointers), continuing his poor shooting season.
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After their first loss in nearly two weeks, the Celtics will have three days off to recover before hosting the Detroit Pistons at TD Garden on Monday. They’ll need to rediscover their shooting stroke if they want to beat the No. 1 seed in the East again.
