Celtics-Bucks recap: Pritchard propels C’s to thrilling victory

Payton Pritchard scored 28 points on 8 of 12 shooting from 3-point range off the Celtics bench.

Full game highlights from the Boston Celtics’ 119-108 win over the Milwaukee Bucks to improve to 4-0 on the season.

Payton Pritchard put on a show for the TD Garden crowd during Monday night’s game vs. the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Boston Celtics guard erupted for 28 points while drilling eight of his 12 3-pointers to tie the franchise record for 3s off the bench. He also notched five rebounds, three assists, and two steals.

Jaylen Brown led the C’s in scoring with a season-high 30 points, 21 of them coming in the second half. Jrue Holiday added 21 points on 4 of 7 from deep.

It was an off shooting night for Jayson Tatum, who had a modest 15 points on 6 of 16 from the floor (1-8 from deep). He made his presence felt in other ways, however, as he had eight rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block.

Damian Lillard (33 points) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (30 points) paced the Bucks in a losing effort.

Next up for Boston is a trip to Indiana to take on the Pacers on Wednesday night.

Check out our live blog below for a recap of Monday’s thrilling Celtics victory.

Instant reaction to the Celtics’ win

By Justin Leger

Eddie House and the Celtics Postgame Live crew react to Payton Pritchard’s brilliant performance and Boston’s 119-108 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.

Rivers had Pritchard’s name circled

By Justin Leger

“Payton Pritchard happened,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said after the game, via WEEI’s Justin Turpin. “This morning, I literally circled his name. It’s like, this guy comes in and he’s a game changer. … He got their 3 ball going. I thought that changed the game.”

OCT 2810:18 PM EDT

Pritchard catches up with Abby Chin

By Justin Leger

Payton Pritchard chatted with our Abby Chin after the Celtics’ victory about his huge night in which he tied Eddie House for most 3-pointers off the bench for Boston (eight).

Abby Chin catches up with Payton Pritchard in an exclusive 1-on-1 interview following the Celtics’ win over the Bucks. Pritchard scored 28 points, including tying Eddie House’s franchise record for threes off the bench with eight.

OCT 2810:15 PM EDT

Highlights from the C’s win over the Bucks

FINAL: Celtics 119, Bucks 108

By Justin Leger

Payton Pritchard went off for 28 points on 8 of 12 from 3-point range in Monday’s win over the Bucks.
The fans at TD Garden were treated to a thrilling Boston Celtics win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night.

It was the Payton Pritchard Show as the C’s guard erupted for 28 points on 8 of 12 shooting from 3-point range in 28 minutes off the bench. Jaylen Brown had a team-high 30 points — also a season-high — with 21 of them coming in the second half.

Jrue Holiday racked up 21 points and hit four of his seven shots from deep. Jayson Tatum tallied 15 points while Derrick White added 13 points and eight assists.

Big scoring performances from Damian Lillard (33 points) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (30 points) weren’t enough to keep up with Boston’s balanced attack. Six Celtics players scored in double figures.

OCT 289:49 PM EDT

Pritchard ties House’s record

By Justin Leger

Payton Pritchard has tied Eddie House’s Celtics record for 3-pointers off the bench with eight, per Celtics stats guru Dick Lipe.

OCT 289:47 PM EDT

C’s pulling away

By Justin Leger

Score: 108-94 Celtics, 5:44 left in fourth quarter

Boston’s lead is up to 14 after a Jayson Tatum 3-pointer. Tatum is up to 13 points on 6 of 16 shooting.

Jaylen Brown and Payton Pritchard lead the C’s with 28 points each.

OCT 289:40 PM EDT

No answers for Jaylen

By Justin Leger

Score: 100-92 Celtics, 7:52 left in fourth quarter

Jaylen Brown has taken over with 19 of his season-high 28 points coming in the second half. He has seven straight makes and is now 10 of 17 from the floor. He has also done a great job getting to the line as he’s 8-10 from the charity stripe.

Payton Pritchard has 25 points off the bench on 7 of 11 from 3-point range. He is tied with teammate Jayson Tatum for the league lead in 3-pointers with 18.

OCT 289:30 PM EDT

The Pritching Hour

By Justin Leger

Score: 95-82 Celtics, 10:54 left in fourth quarter

Make that 25 points on 7 of 11 from 3-point range for Payton Pritchard, who is now 17 of 28 from deep over his last two-plus games.

The Celtics are on a 16-3 run.

OCT 289:24 PM EDT

End of third quarter

By Justin Leger

Score: 90-82 Celtics

It was the Derrick White Show at the end of the third quarter. The Celtics guard hit a pair of 3s, then stuffed Giannis Antetokounmpo on the other end. White has 13 points (5-11 FG, 3-8 3-PT) and six assists.

Payton Pritchard drilled a 3 just before the third-quarter buzzer to give him a team-high 22 points on 6 of 10 from deep. Jaylen Brown has 21 points on 7 of 14 shooting.

OCT 289:14 PM EDT

Tatum gets a tech, Brown gets hot

By Justin Leger

Score: 79-75 Celtics, 3:49 left in third quarter

Jayson Tatum was hit with his first technical foul of the season for arguing with an official. The C’s star has 11 points on 5 of 14 shooting (1-7 3-PT).

Jaylen Brown has heated up. He’s up to a team-high 21 points on 7 of 14 shooting.

OCT 289:01 PM EDT

Mazzulla wins another challenge

By Justin Leger

Score: 65-61 Celtics, 8:51 left in third quarter

C’s coach Joe Mazzulla is 2 for 2 on challenges tonight, this time reversing a goaltending call on Al Horford.

It was Horford’s second rejection of Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Payton Pritchard still leads the Celtics with 19 points. Jaylen Brown has 15.

OCT 288:39 PM EDT

Halftime

By Justin Leger

Score: 56-53 Bucks

Outside of Payton Pritchard’s 3-point barrage (19 points, 5-8 3-PT), it wasn’t a great offensive first half for the C’s.

They shot 42.2 percent from the floor and just 8 of 26 (30.8 percent) from 3-point range. Non-Pritchard Celtics were 12 for 35 overall, including just 3 of 18 from deep. Boston also was outrebounded 27-20.

Four of Milwaukee’s five starters scored in double figures. The group was led by Damian Lillard (16 points) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (13 points).

OCT 288:29 PM EDT

C’s trailing late in second quarter

By Justin Leger

Score: 50-46 Bucks, 3:59 left in second quarter

Payton Pritchard’s 19 points haven’t been enough to give Boston an edge over Milwaukee in the first half. Non-Pritchard C’s have shot a combined 11 for 30 from the floor.

Damian Lillard leads the Bucks with 16 points. Giannis Antetokounmpo has 13.

OCT 288:20 PM EDT

Pritchard on FIRE

By Justin Leger

Score: 41-41, 7:25 left in second quarter

Payton Pritchard is staying red-hot with a game-high 19 points on 5-7 from 3-point range in 10 minutes off the Celtics bench. According to Celtics stats guru Dick Lipe, he’s the first C’s player ever to make five 3s off the bench in three consecutive games.

Damian Lillard leads the Bucks with 13 points.

OCT 288:09 PM EDT

End of first quarter

By Justin Leger

Score: 29-28 Bucks

We’ve got a fun one at TD Garden between the C’s and Bucks.

Jayson Tatum and Payton Pritchard lead the way for Boston with eight points apiece. Derrick White has seven.

Giannis Antetokounmpo (11 points) and Damian Lillard (10 points) have provided almost all of the offense for Milwaukee.

The Celtics are shooting 45.8 percent from the floor, including 4-14 (28.6 percent) from 3-point range. The Bucks are 47.8 percent from the floor and 3-10 from deep.

OCT 288:03 PM EDT

All knotted up early

By Justin Leger

Score: 21-21

Derrick White leads the C’s with seven points. Payton Pritchard has five off the bench.

Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo are carrying the Bucks offensively with 19 of their 21 points.

OCT 287:53 PM EDT

Horford rejects Giannis

By Justin Leger

Thirty-eight-year-old Al Horford swatted away Giannis Antetokounmpo’s shot, leading to Derrick White scoring Boston’s first points of the game on the other end.

OCT 287:45 PM EDT

Slow start

By Justin Leger

Score: 2-0 Bucks, 9:47 left in first quarter

The Celtics are 0 for 6 from the floor out of the gate. The Bucks haven’t shot much better (1-5), but they scored first on a Damian Lillard jumper.

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla challenged an out-of-bounds call and won.

OCT 287:22 PM EDT

Homecourt advantage

By Justin Leger

The Celtics have won seven consecutive regular season home games vs. Milwaukee. The home team has prevailed in 10 of the last 11 regular season contests between the two clubs (via Celtics stats guru Dick Lipe).

OCT 287:09 PM EDT

Bucks starting lineup

By Justin Leger

Milwaukee is starting Damian Lillard, Gary Trent Jr., Taurean Prince, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Brook Lopez against Boston.

OCT 287:02 PM EDT

Celtics’ starting five

By Justin Leger

Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Al Horford will start for Boston on Monday night.

OCT 286:54 PM EDT

Porzingis getting shots up

By Justin Leger

Kristaps Porzingis is on the TD Garden parquet getting shots up ahead of Monday’s game.

OCT 286:24 PM EDT

Doc talks ‘Big 3′ reunion

By Justin Leger

Bucks coach Doc Rivers – Boston’s coach from 2004-13 – spoke about Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen getting together for the Celtics’ Opening Night ring ceremony.

“Yeah, that was awesome,” he told reporters. “It’s amazing… Each guy sent me that picture separately. I think they were trying to tell me, ‘Hey look, we get along.'”

OCT 286:20 PM EDT

Lonnie Walker won’t head to Maine

By Justin Leger

Lonnie Walker declined to join the Maine Celtics after being cut by Boston, per John Karalis of Boston Sports Journal. He reportedly “chose to pursue other opportunities.”

OCT 286:18 PM EDT

Mazzulla praises Tatum

By Justin Leger

“I just like that he’s playing kind of balanced basketball,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said of Jayson Tatum before Monday’s game. “His potential assists are up … Just a balanced attack on both ends of the floor and a good awareness of how he’s being guarded.”

Derrick White’s block-per-game rule goes way back for Celtics star

By Chris Forsberg, Celtics Insider

Derrick White breaks down his mindset of one block per game with Chris Forsberg

Derrick White had just finished detailing his key late-game block on Cade Cunningham and teammate Jayson Tatum was giving him some grief when informed that White hadn’t blocked a shot the previous game.

White fessed up that he actually hadn’t had a swat in either of Boston’s first two games of the 2024-25 season and said he was playing catch-up in Detroit.

“One [block] per game,” said White. “That’s the rule.”

That’s been the rule since White got dispatched to the Austin Spurs of the G-League early in his second NBA season. There, White befriended 6-foot-10 center Amira Brimah and playfully told him that they shared a defensive skill set.

First-quarter dominance fueling Celtics’ red-hot start to new season

By Nick Goss

Derrick White, with the help of Jayson Tatum, takes us through his huge block which help secure the Celtics’ win

The Boston Celtics will host the Milwaukee Bucks at TD Garden on Monday night in an early-season clash between two of the top contenders in the Eastern Conference.

The defending champion Celtics actually have a seven-game regular season home win streak against the Bucks. Milwaukee’s last regular season win in Boston came on Dec. 21, 2018.

If the Celtics are going to extend that streak, a strong start will be key. Boston has been the best first-quarter team in the NBA so far this season.

The Celtics’ red-hot 3-point shooting has been instrumental in this early-game success. They are averaging eight 3-pointers made per game in the first quarter. There are eight teams averaging fewer than 11 3-point shots made per game, and the C’s are slightly under that mark in just the first quarter.

WATCH: Celtics clash with Giannis and the Bucks at TD Garden

By NBC Sports Boston

Imagn Images

Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and Celtics forward Jayson Tatum