Giannis Antetokounmpo tipped the ball in with 5.1 seconds left to give the Bucks a 104-102 Game 4 win over the Celtics.
The Milwaukee Bucks had blown a 20-point second half lead and looked like they could be on the way to a gut-wrenching finish when Malcolm Brogdon’s lefty runner bounced off the rim with just over five seconds left.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had other plans.
With a stretch of his long left arm, Antetokounmpo tapped back Brogdon’s miss, sending the ball rolling along the rim and through the net with 5.1 seconds remaining. Khris Middleton then strongly contested a 14-footer by Marcus Morris that harmlessly clanked off the rim and down into Brogdon’s arms as the Bucks held on for a 104-102 victory in front of a sellout crowd at the BMO Harris Bradley Center on Sunday afternoon.
Milwaukee’s win tied the series at two games a piece and meant the Bradley Center, which will be replaced next season by the Bucks’ new arena next door, will host another game. Game 5 will be back in Boston on Tuesday before the teams return to Milwaukee for Game 6 on Thursday.
Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 27 points on 12 of 20 shooting to go with seven rebounds and five assists while Middleton added 23 points.
The Bucks got off to a slow start, but turned things around thanks to their defense, which held the Celtics under 30% from the field in the first quarter. Milwaukee used a 13-2 run midway through the first quarter to take command and closed the quarter with a flourish as Middleton scored with 1.2 seconds left and Matthew Dellavedova scooped up Boston’s inbound pass, which has been rolled on the ground, and popped it in for a layup.
Milwaukee kept rolling in the second quarter, building a halftime lead of 51-35. Jabari Parker played the best defensive half of his NBA career during those first two quarters, coming up with three blocks and two steals in his first 10 minutes alone, something he had never done in a full NBA game. Parker also had 12 points of his 16 points by the intermission, as he, Middleton (13 points) and Antetokounmpo (10) matched the Celtics on their own.
The Bucks kept the momentum going early in the third quarter, culminating with a no-look, wraparound pass from Eric Bledsoe to Antetokounmpo with 7 minutes, 37 seconds left in the period that put the Bucks ahead, 65-45.
But the Celtics weren’t about to take another embarrassing loss lying down. Led by Jaylen Brown, who scored 19 of his 34 points after halftime, Boston embarked on a 20-6 run over about six minutes to bring the margin within six. By the end of the quarter, the Bucks held a tenuous eight-point margin.
It took less than three minutes for that lead to disappear as the Celtics tied the score at 77 with 9 minutes, 3 seconds left on a Marcus Morris layup.
Thon Maker, who was again a revelation off the bench with eight points and five of Milwaukee’s 14 blocks, then was left wide open for a three-pointer to put the Bucks back ahead. Finding an answer when the Celtics seemed on the verge of breaking through became a theme for the Bucks.
They bent, but didn’t break.
Bledsoe provided a few of those answers, hitting a three-pointer, driving for a layup and getting fouled on a three-pointer. Yet, Boston kept coming, with Jayson Tatum nailing a jumper with 52.4 seconds left to give the Celtics their first lead since the first quarter, 100-99.
Then came one of the most critical plays for the Bucks. Antetokounmpo missed a layup following a timeout, which led to a runout for the Celtics. Middleton got back and stripped Brown with a block, which Bledsoe snatched up to keep it from going out of bounds.
The Bucks pushed back on the counterattack, with Antetokounmpo driving and kicking out to Bledsoe along the three-point arc. Bledsoe quickly pushed a pass to Brogdon in the corner and the reigning Rookie of the Year swished a trey with 33.5 seconds left to put the Bucks back up two. Brogdon finished with 10 points on 4 of 7 shooting with no bucket bigger than that corner three.
Maker then fouled Al Horford on the next possession and Horford made both shots, setting up Antetokounmpo’s clutch, game-winning tip-in at the other end.
Matt Velazquez writes for the Journal Sentinel, part of the USA TODAY Network
