On paper, the Boston Celtics’ opening matchup of the season against the Milwaukee Bucks should have been a cakewalk, given the Bucks were missing three of its greatest players in Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, and Brook Lopez.
With a right ankle strain, Antetokounmpo, the reigning NBA Finals MVP, was scratched just 90 minutes before the game.
Pat Connaughton took his position in the starting lineup and scored 15 points as the Bucks dropped their sixth game in a row. Despite the Bucks’ absence of key players, the Celtics did not have an easy night.
The Bucks maintained their pressure throughout the game to force Boston into its fourth overtime game of the season, but Dennis Schröder led the Celtics to victory with a season-high 38 points, eight of which came in overtime. Jayson Tatum and Marcus Smart provided good assistance, combining 46 points and 11 rebounds, with Tatum leading the way with 27 points and 11 rebounds.
For the defending NBA champions, Jrue Holiday had 17 points and 13 assists, while Bobby Portis scored 22 points. Grayson Allen scored 21 points in regulation, including a pair of 3-pointers in the final 73 seconds to send the game to overtime.
In the opening 30 minutes of the game, there were 22 lead changes – and eight ties – before Boston embarked on a 13-2 run to turn a one-point deficit into a double-digit lead.
When Allen sank a 3-pointer with 73 seconds left in regulation, Tatum turned the ball over, and George Hill put back Holiday’s missed 3 to narrow the margin to one point. With 14 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Allen made a step-back 3-pointer after Schröder sunk a floater to tie the game at 108. Schroder took the game home by scoring 8 points in the overtime on 3 of 4 shooting to improve their record to 6-6.
Dennis Schroder was on another level tonight 😤
Check out some of the best plays from our @gatorade Player of the Game pic.twitter.com/CcktBdYyha
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) November 13, 2021
