Even with the much-anticipated return of Giannis Antetokounmpo to the lineup, the struggles continued for the Milwaukee Bucks.

Payton Pritchard scored 25 points, Hugo González added 18 points and 16 rebounds as the Boston Celtics rolled over the Bucks 108-81 on Monday night, spoiling Antetokounmpo’s return from injury.

Antetokounmpo, who had missed the previous 15 games with a right calf strain, finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds in 25 minutes while shooting 7 for 18 from the field.

The Bucks (26-34) fell to 15-16 with Antetokounmpo in the lineup this season and are 11-18 without him.

Boston dominated despite playing without leading scorer Jaylen Brown, who sat due to an illness.

Pritchard made five 3-pointers and added nine assists as the Celtics won their third straight game and their 12th in their last 14.

Derrick White had 18 points and nine assists, while Luka Garza grabbed 10 rebounds off the bench in under 20 minutes.

Boston used a 24-5 run that spanned the first and second quarters to blow the game open and never looked back.

Ousmane Dieng was the only other Milwaukee starter in double figures, scoring 13 points, while Bobby Portis finished with 12 off the bench.

 

Murray wills Nuggets past Jazz

Jamal Murray scored 45 points, including crucial free throws in the final minute, and the Denver Nuggets edged the Utah Jazz 128-125.

Murray made a pair of free throws with 32 seconds left that put Denver up 126-125. After a defensive stop, Nikola Jokić expanded the lead by making two free throws of his own, and Keyonte George missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have sent the game to overtime.

Murray was 13 of 19 from the floor and 8 of 13 from 3-point range while adding eight assists for the Nuggets (38-24), who have gone just 5-8 since Feb. 1.

Jokić finished with 22 points, 12 rebounds and five assists, while Julian Strawther added 15 points.

Utah stayed in the game largely by creating 15 Denver turnovers and scoring 27 points off of them.

George scored 36 points and contributed four steals in his second game back from a right ankle sprain. He topped the 30-point milestone for the 13th time this season after having a total of six 30-point games over his first two seasons.  

Kyle Filipowski was also solid for the Jazz (18-43), finishing with 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

Rookie Ace Bailey added 18 points.

 

Kawhi, Clips rally by Warriors

Kawhi Leonard finished with 23 points and eight rebounds to help rally the Los Angeles Clippers from a 17-point deficit to a 114-101 win over the Golden State Warriors.

The Warriors jumped out to a 31-19 lead at the end of the first quarter and increased their advantage to 44-27 about midway through the second before Kris Dunn scored on back-to-back possessions to stop the bleeding.

The Clippers continued to trail the entire third quarter but ended the frame on an 21-8 run over a five-minute span to take the lead.

Darius Garland made his Clippers debut after being acquired from the Cleveland Cavaliers at the trade deadline.

Garland, who had been sitting due to lingering toe injuries, had 12 points in 23 minutes off the bench but also had five turnovers.

Dunn finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for the Clips (29-31).

Brandin Podziemski led the Warriors (31-30) with 22 points as they played again without stars Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and Kristaps Porziņģis.