By ASSOCIATED PRESS
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Payton Pritchard scored 25 points, rookie Hugo González had career highs of 18 points and 16 rebounds, and the Boston Celtics beat Milwaukee, 108-81, on Monday night, March 2, to spoil Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo’s return from a right calf strain.
Derrick White also scored 18 points for the Celtics, who have won three straight and seven of eight. White and Pritchard each had nine assists.
Antetokounmpo had 19 points and 11 rebounds in 25 minutes in his first action since getting injured on Jan. 23. The Bucks went 8-7 during his absence.
Overall this season, the Bucks are 15-16 with Antetokounmpo and 11-18 without him.
Boston was missing five-time All-Star Jaylen Brown due to an illness. The Celtics also rested Neemias Queta, who scored a career-high 27 points in a 114-98 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday night.
González started for just the third time. The 28th overall pick in the 2025 draft came in averaging 3.9 points and 3.3 rebounds.
Nikola Vucevic had 10 points, seven assists and five rebounds in his first start since the Celtics acquired the two-time All-Star from Chicago at the trade deadline.
Boston went on a 24-5 run that started late in the first quarter and carried over to the second as the Celtics turned a 15-14 deficit into a 38-20 lead. Boston stayed in control the rest of the way.
The Celtics led by 22 before carrying a 57-43 edge into halftime. Milwaukee cut the margin to nine early in the second half, but Boston responded with 15 straight points. Milwaukee has lost its last three games, all by at least 23 points.
Meanwhile, Kawhi Leonard had 23 points, eight rebounds and four assists, and the Los Angeles Clippers erased a 17-point deficit to beat the short-handed Golden State Warriors, 114-101.
Darius Garland scored 12 points in his Clippers debut, coming off the bench to play nearly 23 minutes in his first game since being acquired from Cleveland at the trade deadline last month in a deal that sent James Harden to the Cavaliers.
Garland had been nursing a toe injury, then he went down with 1:26 left in the second quarter after a collision with Moses Moody when they both went for a loose ball and Moody’s right shoulder appeared to get Garland in the face. Both players were shaken but stayed in the game.
Garland’s 3-pointer with 3:09 left in the third pulled the Clippers within 75-68, then Kris Dunn had a steal and layup to make it a five-point game. Los Angeles was within 79-77 going into the final 12 minutes.
Dunn finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for the Clippers, who shot just 9 for 31 from 3-point range. Los Angeles used a 9-4 spurt to start the fourth quarter and go ahead 88-81.
Brandin Podziemski scored 22 points for the Warriors with Stephen Curry sidelined for an 11th straight game with a right knee injury, big man Kristaps Porzingis out for his fifth consecutive contest because of an illness coach Steve Kerr called “mysterious.” Rookie Will Richard was in a walking boot for his sprained right ankle he hurt in Saturday’s blowout home loss to the Lakers.
Al Horford added 17 points for Golden State, which has lost five of seven and nine of 14. Podziemski hit eight of his initial 12 shots with three 3-pointers for his second career 20-point half, but he went 1 for 6 for two points after the break.
