Boston Celtics steamrolled the NBA-leading Milwaukee Bucks

On Thursday night, the Boston Celtics thrashed the NBA-leading Milwaukee Bucks 140-99 thanks to Jayson Tatum's 40 points and Jaylen Brown's 30 points. In the Eastern Conference standings, the Celtics (53-24) came within two games of the Bucks (55-22) after making 22 of 43 3-point attempts. Boston received the tiebreaker because the Celtics won the season series 2-1. The Celtics should have a lot of confidence after Boston's success in those three games against Milwaukee that they can defeat the Bucks once more if they face off in the postseason. In the Eastern Conference semifinals last year, the Celtics defeated the Bucks in seven games.

With 24 points in the Bucks' season-worst defeat, Giannis Antetokounmpo led the team. They had just won 149-136 at Indiana, shooting 62.4%, a season-high, the previous night.