This battle of heavyweights in the second round of the NBA playoffs is going a long way.
The defending champion Milwaukee Bucks missed a chance to knock out the upstart Celtics with Boston winning 108-95 on Friday night at Fiserv Forum to even the best-of-seven series at 3-3.
Game 7 is scheduled for Sunday at 2:30 pm at the TD Garden in Boston. The teams have alternated wins in the series.
Jayson Tatum had 46 points to get past the Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo, who had 44. Tatum had 10 points in the fourth quarter to bury Milwaukee.
Tatum also had more help with Jaylen Brown adding 22 and Marcus Smart 21.
Jrue Holiday had 17 for the Bucks and Pat Connaughton 14.
The Celtics were raining down 3-pointers in the first quarter, hitting eight with Smart and Tatum combining for seven.
Antetokounmpo, as usual, was aggressive attacking the basket from the start. He made six free throws before the Bucks got their first field goal, a mid-range jumper by Antetokounmpo at 7:51.
Antetokounmpo scored 15 of the Bucks’ first 19 points and finished with 17 in the first quarter.
Smart had 14 points in the first 12 minutes.
Boston went up, 40-30, when Tatum hit a hook shot at the 8:32 mark of the second quarter.
Milwaukee cut its deficit to 42-39 when Antetokounmpo found Holiday with a good pass for a layup.
But Antetokounmpo was called for his third personal foul with 22.1 seconds left in the first half.
The Celtics then extended the lead to 53-43 at halftime after Derrick White made two free throws with 5.5 seconds remaining.
Tatum and Smart combined for 34 points in the first half, while Antetokounmpo had 21 of the Bucks’ 43.
Boston led, 59-45, early in the third quarter when Tatum hit a 3-pointer.
Grayson Allen answered for the Bucks with a 3-point play, but a few minutes later the Celtics’ Jaylen Brown hit a long shot to make it 63-48 and prompted Milwaukee to call a timeout.
The reboot didn’t help. The Bucks’ Bobby Portis had a shot blocked right away, leading to an easy layup by Brown. Portis hit back with a dunk on an offensive rebound, but Brown hit a 3-pointer to put the Celtics up, 68-50.
With the Fiserv crowd radiating nervous energy, Milwaukee received back-to-back layups from Wesley Matthews, Antetokounmpo and a long shot from Portis. Then it was Boston’s turn to call a timeout.
Milwaukee pulled within 70-62 on Antetokounmpo’s three-point play, setting the crowd on fire.
Boston rebuilt its lead to 82-68 after Tatum hit a 3-pointer with 12.3 seconds left in the third quarter. Antetokounmpo shaved two points off that lead with free throws before the fourth quarter.
The home team had blown double-digit fourth-quarter leads in Games 4 and 5, so the Bucks had hope.
Just over a minute into the fourth quarter, a monstrous dunk led to a three-point play by Antetokounmpo and made it 84-73. The Bucks dodged a bullet a minute later when a challenge from coach Mike Budenholzer overturned what would have been Antetokounmpo’s fifth foul on a charge. Antetokounmpo made both free throws. A 3-pointer by Pat Connaughton made an 8-0 run.
Antetokounmpo made a 3-pointer that brought the Bucks within 85-81. But Tatum drained three hard shots, including a three, that gave Boston a 95-87 lead with 5:23 left.
Smart and Brown then made their own game-winning shots to give the Celtics enough cushion to hold on for victory.
Reference-www.jsonline.com