But the Celtics, who’ve spent a lot of the collection misfiring from past the arc, got here out sizzling, making 5 three-pointers within the first 4 minutes. And Tatum, who has vacillated between high-impact and invisible play towards Milwaukee, couldn’t miss throughout the decisive stretch, ending with a game-high 46 factors to seal Boston’s 108-95 Game 6 victory. The Celtics will host Game 7 on the TD Garden on Sunday, with the winner advancing to face the top-seeded Miami Heat within the Eastern Conference finals.
“Our season was on the line,” Tatum stated. “We knew that. We had to dig deep. Everybody had a bad taste in their mouth. We were upbeat. We weren’t defeated, knowing that we still had an opportunity to save our season. I was excited to play today. Game 6. This is like a big moment for all of us. How will we respond?”
Antetokounmpo opened with a flourish, wanting keen to complete off Boston whereas scoring 17 factors within the first quarter. By evening’s finish, he had posted a team-high 44 factors, 20 rebounds and 6 assists; it was his third 40-point efficiency prior to now 4 video games.
Boston weathered Antetokounmpo’s early storm with sizzling outdoors capturing and took a 10-point lead into halftime as it capitalized on Milwaukee’s offense getting little contribution from its wings. While the Celtics have struggled to pierce the Bucks’ inside protection all through this collection, they compensated with good ball motion and a balanced assault. Smart scored 21 factors and hit 5 three-pointers, and Jaylen Brown added 22 factors.
“We were just trying to take what they gave us, and that was the three,” Smart stated. “We were hitting them early on, and it helped us later — the lane started to open up.”
Though the scoring got here in bunches from a number of sources, the evening belonged to Tatum, who outdueled Antetokounmpo in a memorable fourth-quarter alternate. After the Celtics’ demoralizing loss Wednesday, Tatum vowed that the Celtics weren’t crushed mentally. The second of reality got here early within the closing interval. The Bucks steadily dug out of an 18-point gap, and Antetokounmpo appeared poised to steer one other unbelievable comeback.
Tatum responded with 4 jumpers in fast succession that swished via the web. The three-time all-star ahead discovered consolation spots alongside the baseline and on the left angle, and he made Milwaukee’s protection pay when it misplaced observe of him. Once the mud settled, he had scored 16 factors within the closing interval and offered a compelling sequel to his glorious closing effort in a Game 4 victory.
“I know when I have it going,” Tatum stated. “You feel that rhythm. It’s not necessarily about matching what someone else is doing. Find your spots. Leave it all on the floor. I wasn’t going to have any regrets.”
The Bucks stay affected by an incapacity to seek out dependable secondary scorers. Grayson Allen stays in a horrible hunch, having shot simply 2 for 14 on three-pointers over his final 5 video games. Veterans Bobby Portis and Wesley Matthews proceed to be non-factors on offense, leaving Antetokounmpo to do his finest one-man band act, a la LeBron James on the injury-ravaged 2015 Cleveland Cavaliers. Milwaukee shot simply 41 % from the sphere and 24 % from deep, falling wanting 100 factors for the second time this collection.
“Giannis has been great for them,” Brown stated. “Relentless in his approach. His conditioning is great. He keeps coming. We’ve got to keep coming with him.”
To defend their title, the Bucks now should win a Game 7 on the highway, simply as they did in final yr’s second spherical, once they survived 48 factors from Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant in an additional time battle. This yr arguably represents a higher problem: Nets stars James Harden and Kyrie Irving have been injured final spring, and now the Bucks are with out Khris Middleton, who has been Antetokounmpo’s most dependable sidekick.
Since drafting Tatum in 2017, the Celtics are 2-1 in Game 7s, beating Antetokounmpo’s Bucks in Boston to shut a 2018 first-round collection, shedding to James’s Cavaliers in Boston throughout the 2018 Eastern Conference finals and topping the Toronto Raptors within the second spherical on the Disney World bubble in 2020.
There are two items of comfort for Milwaukee: In this collection, neither staff has received consecutive video games, and the highway staff has received 4 of six.
“In 2018, we went to Boston in a Game 7 and didn’t have the best game possible,” Antetokounmpo stated. “But you learn from it. Learn from the atmosphere and when the ball gets heavy. No matter what happens, we’re going to leave that game and be better. If we’re the team advancing, great, I hope so. If not, we’re going to learn from this. Go out and play free. Be fearless. We don’t owe anybody nothing.”
This matchup has been a dirty battle of attrition from the beginning, and it’s becoming that it’s going to attain a seventh sport. There have been traditional performances from Antetokounmpo, Tatum, Al Horford and Holiday, and now there’s the prospect for yet another.
“You’ve got two juggernauts going at it,” Smart said. “We’re beating each other up. We’ve got home-court [advantage], and we’ve got to take care of business. The Garden is a place you don’t want to be on the road in Game 7.”