MILWAUKEE — The early favorite to win the MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo couldn’t get the Milwaukee Bucks past the Boston Celtics this time.
To start the season, the Bucks ruined the Celtics home-opener. Boston did the same, only Thursday night’s game was played at the arena formely known as the MECCA as a tribute to the Bucks 50th season.
Antetokounmpo started slow but ended with a near triple double – 28 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists – but he didn’t get a ton of help elsewhere in the 96-89 loss at the UW-Milwaukee Arena, where the Bucks played from 1968-1988.
The first meeting between these teams came when the off-season’s most coveted free agent, Gordon Hayward, went down minutes into the opener with a gruesome injury that ended his season. Boston didn’t have that emotional scar this time.
Boston’s Al Horford had 27 points, nine rebounds while Kyrie Irving added 24 points and seven assists for Boston.
Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton and Malcolm Brogdon each scored 15, while Tony Snell added 11.
Antetokounmpo, who came into the game leading the league with nearly 37.8 points, scored just 11 in the first half before he got going coming out of the locker room.
He scored 11 in the third and the Bucks built a seven-point lead midway through the period.
Boston grabbed control in the fourth, building a 12-point lead at the halfway mark before Snell sank back-to-back 3-pointers, bringing the capacity crowd to its feet and forcing a timeout.
The Celtics, however, built the lead back to double digits in a hurry. The Bucks rallied briefly when Brogdon’s layup brought the Bucks within five with just under 4 minutes remaining but that was as close as it got.
The Bucks led 44-43 at the half on a late running dunk by Middleton. Irving had 16 first-half points.
Milwaukee heads to Atlanta on Sunday to start a six-game road trip.