Jaylen Brown smiled and showed off his chip.
Giannis Antetokounmpo bore down and showed why he won his chip.
Just cleared from coronavirus, Antetokounmpo led a furious comeback, as the defending-champion Bucks bested the Celtics 117-113 on Christmas.
Boston built an early 19-point lead behind the superb scoring of Brown, who kept his spirits up even after chipping his tooth on teammate Jayson Tatum:
Any ideas what Jaylen may be asking for this Christmas? 😉🦷 pic.twitter.com/kSRYdIL3na
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) December 25, 2021
But Antetokounmpo led Milwaukee back into contact in the third quarter. Still, the Bucks trailed by 11 when he re-entered the game with 5:34 left in the fourth quarter. From there, Antetokounmpo singlehandedly doubled up the Celtics, 12-6.
Antetokounmpo finished with 36 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and two blocks – including a late rejection of Robert Williams III at the rim to help ice the game:
Milwaukee got its first lead on Wesley Matthews’ 3-pointer with 30 seconds left:
Brown and Tatum each scored 25, but Boston’s offense devolved down the stretch (again).
