Not working late for tips
Last-second chances can't tie it in Game 3 loss
MILWAUKEE >> It didn’t take much — an Al Horford miss, off a Rob Williams putback, off a Marcus Smart miss off his own intentionally missed free throw — for the Celtics to fall just as the buzzer sounded.
That closing sequence, set up when Smart was fouled by Jrue Holiday — the Celtics guard insisted he was in a shooting motion and deserved three shots — was as illustrative as any of the tractor pull conditions that led to Saturday’s 103-101 Game 3 loss to Milwaukee.
The Celtics now trail in the conference semifinal series, 2-1, after the roughest game in a rough, physical series. Defense set the tone as the Celtics shot 37.6% to the Bucks’ 40.4%, and nowhere was the restrictive nature more evident than in Jayson Tatum’s long afternoon.
The Celtics star finished with 10 points on 4-for-19 shooting, including 0-for-7 from downtown, and never found his range. Jaylen Brown (27) and Horford (22) both led a late Celtics rally once the Bucks had taken a 13-point (86-73) lead with 9:48 left.
And the Celtics had their chance, with Smart, off a Brown pass, attempting to go into a shooting motion to draw the foul. But Holiday’s ability to foul before Smart could go into a shooting motion off a “rip out” move limited the play to two shots.
“I was going for the three — we needed three,” said Smart, still upset by the call.
“What you guys see? I would like somebody to answer that. I mean, that’s all I’ve got to say. We need 3 with 4.6 seconds, they
know we need 3, we know they are going to foul, and it’s not like he got me when it was down low, I was already in my shooting motion. I thought it was three free throws. He said it wasn’t. Deal with it.
“I was just going for the three, we needed three. If they foul me, I was shooting it regardless. Really wasn’t even anticipating the foul, but he did it. Like I said, I was already in my shooting motion. I thought it should have been three.”
And still, the Celtics had a chance off Smart’s perfectly
executed miss off the bottom of the rim and backboard.
“Just make a play,” said Horford. “It was just Smart timed it perfectly, was able to get the rebound and at that point, it was just hanging around the rim. We feel like we had some good looks there, and then I think I tipped it once, missed it, the second time I knew I was slightly off, so I wasn’t very optimistic about it and obviously I was a little late, but we gave ourselves a chance there to tie and send it to overtime.”
Ultimately, though, with Giannis Antetokounmpo putting together his most best game of the series (42 points, 16-for-30) and Jrue Holiday burying repeated daggers on the way to 25 points, the Bucks had just enough while also setting the game’s physical tone.
The Celtics trailed by 13 points with 9:46 left, but mainly behind the work of Brown and Horford, cut down the margin until Brown was fouled off the break with 1:49 left. He hit twice for the Celtics’ first lead (100-99) since early in
the third quarter.
Holiday missed, and the shot clock buzzer sounded, though the Celtics produced a long, empty possession down the other end that ended on a missed Marcus Smart 3-pointer.
The Bucks inbounded with 50 seconds left, and Antetokounmpo drove for the lead. Brown missed, and Holiday hit a jump hook with 11.2 seconds left for a 103-100 Milwaukee lead.
But with 4.6 seconds left Holiday fouled Smart 20 feet away. Smart’s appeal for three shots fell on deaf ears, The Celtics guard hit the first, grabbed the rebound of his intentional second miss, and missed again. Horford missed and then had a second attempt go through but was waved off as the clock expired.
The game’s near-miss quality gave the Celtics something to think about heading into Monday’s Game 4.
“That’s what I said back to the group: We didn’t play great offensively at the first half at all. We defended at a high level to keep them to 46, but only had 50 ourselves,” said Ime Udoka. “We weren’t as sharp as we needed to be offensively. But after a poor third quarter on both ends that we could rally back.
“The message is to continue to guard the way we have, other than that third quarter, and then get our offense clicking a little bit more. Like I mentioned before the game, the paint touches are big for us and at times, we got a little stagnant going iso and postups a little bit. But we like to have more movement against this team that really loads up.”