Celtics send Bucks spinning to big defeat

MILWAUKEE: Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined for 70 points as the Boston Celtics crushed the Milwaukee Bucks 140-99 in a one-sided clash of the NBA’s best two teams on Thursday.

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

The defeat was a sobering reality check for the Bucks, 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.

Second-placed Boston however landed what may turn out to be a psychological body blow as the postseason looms with a ruthless beatdown that left Milwaukee’s home fans in stunned silence.

“We just wanted to come out and be aggressive,” Brown said.

“We just wanted to come out and play good basketball and that’s what we did.”

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

Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo said the result was a timely reminder of what might happen in the play-offs if the two sides met again.

“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,” Antetokounmpo said.

“Simple as that. They did it tonight and won by 40. If you don’t go out there to make it tough for them, they’re going to kick our ass. There’s no level of concern. It’s a fact.

“Now we have this in our head, and it’s up to us to see how we deal with it. If we go out and play the same way, we’re going to have the same outcome.”

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

RESULTS (home team in CAPS)

Boston 140 MILWAUKEE 99; New Orleans 107 DENVER 88