Series doesn’t stop here
Bucks force a Game 7 BUCKS CELTICS 97 86
MILWAUKEE — The Bucks crowd was as the Celtics had left them after Game 4 — as loud as all of the support that welcomed them back to the Garden for Game 5.
The result wasn’t any different, either. With the crowd chanting “Bucks in Seven” the Celtics dropped Game 6 last night, 97-86, to Milwaukee.
The Celtics shot 37 percent, with 22 points from Jayson Tatum and 18 from Terry Rozier not covering up for another horrid shooting night. The sides meet for Game 7 tomorrow (8 p.m.) at the Garden.
Giannis Antetokounmpo, after only taking 10 shots during the Bucks’ Game 5 loss, was back on track last night with 31 points on 13for-23 shooting.
The Bucks put the chilly Celtics away with a late 12-3 run that included a Malcolm Brogdon 3-pointer and six points from Antetokounmpo, as the Bucks continued to attack.
Antetokounmpo closed out the third quarter with a drive for a 74-65 Milwaukee lead.
Marcus Morris, with only four points over the first three quarters, finally found a groove with the first five points of the fourth, including a three-point play that briefly cut the Milwaukee lead to four points.
Jaylen Brown didn’t help the process when he hit only 1-of-3 from the line after getting fouled by Thon Maker attempting a shot from the corner. But the next time down Marcus Smart drove for a reverse layup, and Brown, in a one-man break off a Jabari Parker miss, cut the Milwaukee lead to 78-75 with eight minutes left.
Antetokounmpo hit a 10-footer over Aron Baynes, but the Celtics center grabbed a Smart miss and kicked it out to Morris for a 3-pointer that cut the Bucks’ lead to 80-78.
But Brogdon’s corner 3 for an 84-78 lead with 5:25 left triggered a Celtics timeout.
The C’s came out of that break with a missed Morris 3-pointer, leading to another Antetokounmpo conversion.
Tatum answered from downtown after three scoreless Celtics minutes, cutting the Bucks’ lead to 86-81.
But the Celtics’ chill continued as Antetokounmpo went 1-for-2 from the line, and converted a Celtics turnover for an 89-81 edge with 3:12 left. Two Brogdon free throws were good for a 91-81 edge with 2:09 left, and when Brown missed his fifth trey attempt of the night, Antetokounmpo hit another free throw.
The Bucks had just put together a 12-3 run for a 92-81 lead with 1:50 left. The Celtics were still firing blanks.
The C’s trailed at halftime, 48-39, as the result of a 14-2 run by Milwaukee over the last 4:34 of the second quarter. And unlike their Game 5 loss, the Bucks were back to shooting at a high clip — 53.8 percent at intermission. The Celtics, on the other hand, were still in a chill at 37.5 percent.
The struggles of Brown and Tatum were most apparent early in the third quarter, with the former missing a dunk in the midst of a quick 6-0 Milwaukee run, with a Khris Middleton 3-pointer giving the Bucks a 55-41 lead.
But the C’s answered with a 9-2 run, including four free throws from Tatum and a drive by Brown as both players continued to attack, this time with results. Both figured prominently as the Celtics whittled down that lead, cutting the Bucks edge to four points on an Al Horford post-up, and then 6159 when Tatum hit Brown with a slick interior pass. Horford dished to Tatum for a 61-61 tie.
The Bucks took over at that point with an 11-2 run for a 72-63 lead. With the Celtics barely able to make plays down the third-quarter stretch, the Bucks carried a 74-65 lead into the fourth.