Jayson Tatum has 40 points, Boston Celtics rout NBA-leading Milwaukee Bucks 140-99

Jayson Tatum scored 40 points, Jaylen Brown added 30 and the Boston Celtics steamrolled the NBA-leading Milwaukee Bucks 140-99 on Thursday night.

The Celtics (53-24) shot 22 of 43 from 3-point range and moved within two games of the Bucks (55-22) in the Eastern Conference standings. The Celtics won the season series 2-1, giving Boston the tiebreaker.

Boston’s performance in those three games with Milwaukee should give the Celtics plenty of confidence they could knock out the Bucks again if they meet in the postseason. The Celtics beat the Bucks in seven games last season in the East semifinals.

Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 24 points in their most-lopsided loss of the season. They were playing a night after a 149-136 victory at Indiana in which they shot a season-high 62.4%.