NBA PLAYOFFS: Bucks even series with 97-86 win.
Antetokounmpo helps Bucks force Game 7
The Milwaukee Bucks are heading to Boston one last time this season.
Led by an assertive performance by all-star Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Bucks pushed their series against the Celtics to Game 7 with a 97-86 victory Thursday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.
Antetokounmpo knew he had to be more aggressive after putting up just 16 points on 10 shots in a Game 5 loss, and he certainly did that in Game 6. Antetokounmpo put the Celtics away with 12 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter, and if that wasn't enough he pulled down 14 rebounds and four assists.
He drove for layups through contact, hit jumpers, Euro-stepped Semi Ojeleye to the floor, calmly knocked down his free throws and put the team on his back throughout the game, coming through in the clutch in the way superstars are expected to.
Saturday's deciding Game 7 will be played at 7 p.m. at TD Garden.
The game ebbed and flowed into the fourth quarter. Boston struck first, stretching its lead to nine points multiple times in the first quarter before the Bucks — powered by five straight points from Jabari Parker — closed the period with a 7-0 run.
Milwaukee then got off to a ragged start and went back down by seven early in the second before using an 8-0 run to take the lead. The Bucks then used a 14-2 run over the final five minutes of the half, including six
points from Antetokounmpo and five from Eric Bledsoe, to take a 48-39 advantage.
That margin grew to as many as 14 early in the third before the Celtics punched back — hard. The Celtics, who got 22 points from rookie Jayson Tatum and 18 from Terry Rozier, roared back to life, halving Milwaukee's margin in less than 2 1⁄2 minutes. In just over five total minutes, the Celtics tied the score with a Tatum layup that capped a 20-6 run.
But the Bucks refused to let them lead. Khris Middleton, who finished with 16 points, banked in a 5-footer and Antetokounmpo followed that with four straight points to stabilize things.
By the end of the third, the Bucks had weathered the storm and maintained their nine-point advantage.
Yet again it didn't last, with the Celtics getting within two with just over 7 minutes left in the game. The teams then traded misses for a few possessions before Tyler Zeller put the Bucks up three.
Then came possibly the biggest shot of the night, the one that erased the nerves in the Bradley Center crowd, replacing them with frenzied excitement and hope the Bucks could hang on.
Boston's Jaylen Brown missed a three-pointer and Antetokounmpo got the rebound, quickly passing it out to start a break. Bledsoe took over from there and read the defense perfectly, firing a pass to Malcolm Brogdon in the corner. Brogdon secured the pass and immediately hoisted a three-pointer over the arm of Celtics center Al Horford.
Nothing but net.
Brogdon finished with 16 points, but none were more impactful than that shot.
Antetokounmpo scored the next five points for the Bucks to all but wrap up the victory.
Now the Bucks face the challenge of staving off elimination once again, this time on the road. The road team has not won a game yet in this series, something Milwaukee will need to change in order to claim its first playoff series win since 2001 and earn a couple more games at the soon-to-be-replaced Bradley Center.