MILWAUKEE (AP) — Payton Pritchard scored 25 points, rookie Hugo Gonzalez had a career-high 18 points and 16 rebounds, and the Boston Celtics beat Milwaukee 108-81 on Monday night, disrupting Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo’s return from a strained right calf.
Derrick White also scored 18 points for the Celtics, who have won three straight and seven of eight games. White and Pritchard each had nine assists.
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Antetokounmpo had 19 points and 11 rebounds in 25 minutes in his first game since the injury on Jan. 23. The Bucks went 8-7 in his absence.
The Bucks are 15-16 this season without Antetokounmpo and 11-18 without him.
Boston is without five-time All-Star Jaylen Brown due to illness. The Celtics also rested Nemeans Queta, who scored a career-high 27 points in a 114-98 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday night.
Gonzalez made his third start. The 28th overall pick in the 2025 draft averaged 3.9 points and 3.3 rebounds per game.
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.
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Boston’s 24-5 run at the end of the first quarter continued into the second quarter, with the Celtics turning a 15-14 deficit into a 38-20 lead. Boston maintained control the rest of the game.
At halftime, the Celtics led 57-43 by 22 points. Milwaukee cut the deficit to nine points early in the second half, but Boston responded with 15 straight points.
Milwaukee has lost each of its past three games by at least 23 points.
Next
Celtics: Host Charlotte on Wednesday.
Bucks: Host Atlanta on Wednesday.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba