NBA: Bobby Portis pours in 28 as Bucks beat up Celtics

Bobby Portis came off the bench to score a game-high 28 points and grab 12 rebounds as the Milwaukee Bucks avoided a third consecutive loss by routing the visiting Boston Celtics 135-102 Thursday night.

Portis made 11 of his 18 field-goal attempts, including 5 of 6 shots from 3-point range.

Milwaukee star Giannis Antetokounmpo added 24 points, 12 rebounds and six assists in 26 minutes. He made 10 of 13 shots from the floor. The Bucks also received a 21-point performance from Damian Lillard.

Payton Pritchard led the Celtics with 21 points. Sam Hauser made four 3-pointers and finished with 15 points.

Milwaukee seized control with a 25-0 run in the first half. The Celtics trailed 31-23 with 2:14 left in the first quarter, then went scoreless for the next 6:36. Boston missed 10 consecutive field-goal attempts during that stretch.

The Bucks made 10 of their 14 field-goal tries during the run and led 56-23 following a Brook Lopez jump shot with 8:02 left in the first half.

Milwaukee, which was coming off losses to the Houston Rockets and Utah Jazz, pushed its lead to 38 points in the second quarter and had a 75-38 lead at halftime. It was the Celtics' biggest halftime deficit since 1967.

Boston was 1 of 16 on 3-point attempts in the first half. Milwaukee shot 28 of 49 (57.1 percent) in the half, which included 11 made 3-pointers in 22 attempts.

Boston's five starters didn't play in the second half. Jaylen Brown had 10 points, the only Celtics starter who finished in double figures. Jayson Tatum tossed in seven, Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday each had six, and Derrick White finished with two as the starters combined to shoot 13-for-42 (31 percent).

Milwaukee's lead reached 43 points in the third quarter. The Bucks had a 111-70 lead entering the final quarter.

Boston, which beat the Minnesota Timberwolves in overtime on Wednesday, played without center Al Horford, who was listed as having a non-COVID illness. The Celtics typically don't use Horford in both games when they play on back-to-back nights.

--Field Level Media/Reuters