It’s 7th heaven for Celts
Horford assumes control as Bucks stop here in playoffs
When Al Horford talks about making the right play, sometimes the Celtics’ multi-skilled center leaves scoring out of the conversation.
But on a night when Jaylen Brown sat out the second half with a sore right hamstring, and the Celtics needed someone to take over the attack, their center set the tone in a 112-96 Game 7 win over the Milwaukee Bucks last night at the Garden.
The Celtics’ prize is a second-round matchup with Philadelphia, an old rivalry that is about to get a fresh treatment. It will also start quickly, with Game 1 of the bestof-seven series set to tip off tomorrow night at the Garden.
Horford turned in one of his finest playoff scoring performances on the Celtics with 26 points on 13-for-17 shooting, to go along with eight rebounds, and got plenty of help from Terry Rozier (26 points, nine assists, six rebounds) and Jayson Tatum (20 points).
Khris Middleton had 32 points and Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 22 to once again carry most of the offense for the Bucks, to no avail.
Rozier began the close-out ceremony, hitting his fourth and fifth 3-pointers of the night in a 27-second span, the latter for a 101-82 Celtics lead with 5:17 left. And when Middleton answered with a four-point play, Rozier came back with a dish to Tatum for a 103-86 lead.
The Bucks cut the Celtics’ lead to 103-91 on a Middleton drive, but Rozier came wheeling back with a mid-air reverse layup. Middleton answered again, this time from the line, and Horford buried a 20-footer that made the game operations crew confident enough to put the Gino video on the Jumbotron.
Horford’s 10-point third quarter served the Celtics well. They protected a 10-point lead most of the way and uncorked an 11-2 run late that peaked on 3-pointers from Marcus Morris and Tatum.
The result was an 81-67 lead at the start of the fourth.
Morris opened with an improbable fallaway from the baseline. When Jason Terry answered from downtown for Milwaukee, Morris hit from the lane.
Aron Baynes grabbed two big offensive boards in the next two minutes, and made a feed to Shane Larkin. Finally, Baynes hit a lefthanded hook from the left baseline for an 89-74 lead with 8:36 left.
Rozier then took another step, hitting a 3-pointer, stealing the ball from Eric Bledsoe, and drawing the foul on his nemesis, hitting the first of two free throws for a 93-76 lead with 6:56 left.
The daggers continued to fall with Rozier hitting back-to-back 3-pointers for a 101-82 lead with 5:17 left.
The Celtics took a 50-42 halftime lead thanks to a 9-0 run near the end of the second quarter. Horford attacked Bucks center Thon Maker multiple times to help drive the score up.
Brown didn’t start the new half due to his hamstring issue, and was on the exercise bike near the bench when Marcus Smart replaced him in the starting lineup.
But the Bucks opened the third in more determined form, cutting the Celtics lead to three on a Bledsoe 3-pointer. Horford answered, and came back with two more hoops in a 9-2 run that pushed the Celtics back out to a 63-53 edge with 7:04 left.
The Celtics successfully defended a lead that fluctuated around 10 points for next three minutes, helped by a Semi Ojeleye corner trey. The C’s seemed to match every Bucks score at this point.