On Saturday, defending champion, Milwaukee defeated Boston 103-101 in the NBA playoffs because of Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 42 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists. The Bucks took a 2-1 conduct in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference second-round series, which continues on Monday in Milwaukee, thanks to the Greek superstar center’s two blocked shots and two steals.
Later Saturday, Golden State will play Memphis in a Western Conference showdown, with the series tied at 1-1.
With 4.6 seconds left, the Celtics rallied from a 14-point deficit to come within 103-100, and Marcus Smart made the first of two free throws to keep the visitors in the game.
Smart missed the second free throw, but Robert Williams missed a tip-in attempt, and Al Horford’s tip-in was ruled after the final buzzer, giving Milwaukee the win.
Ime Udoka, the Celtics’ coach, argued the foul by Jrue Holiday on Smart, which, say before a shot attempt, should have been called while Smart was shooting and resulted in three free throws, allowing Smart to tie the game at the line.
Udoka explained, “He was heading into the shot.” “Poor caller. It’s a gamble. He’s getting ready to take a shot. “Bad phone call.”
On the Smart play, Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said the Bucks were “lucky it was two free throws, but we weren’t trying to foul him.”
Udoka said it shouldn’t have been this way
“We were poor with our performance in the third and enabled them to take the lead, but we fought back in the fourth,” he remarked. “However, we have a lot of room for improvement.”
Holiday led the Bucks with 25 points, with Brook Lopez adding 13 points and ten rebounds and Pat Connaughton coming off the bench with 11 points and eight boards.
Jaylen Brown led Boston with 27 and 12 rebounds, while Al Horford added 22 and 16 rebounds, but Jayson Tatum only scored 10 points on 4-of-19 shooting.
Boston led 50-46 at halftime, but the Bucks went on a 20-6 run to take a 66-56 lead in the third quarter, with Antetokounmpo scoring nine points and dishing out four assists.
In the third quarter’s final, Milwaukee led by as much as 80-66.
Dramatic conclusion
On the other hand, Horford scored 12 points in the fourth quarter, including back-to-back 3-pointers, and hooked shots to put Boston within 97-95 with 4:10 remaining.
Smart, who had missed the second game due to a thigh injury, nailed a free throw to pull the Celtics within 97-96, but Antetokounmpo responded with a jumper.
Brown converted two free throws with 2:33 left to pull Boston within 99-98, then went back to the line and struck two more with 1:49 left to give the Celtics a 100-99 lead.
Antetokounmpo responded with an inside jumper, putting the Bucks up 101-100 and blocking a Brown shot.
With 11.2 seconds left, Holiday recovered the lost ball for Milwaukee and scored a one-handed shot to put the Bucks up 103-100, then fouled Smart to set up the final drama.
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