Celtics even series with win over Bucks
MILWAUKEE – Al Horford and Jayson Tatum scored 30 points apiece and led the Boston Celtics' fourth-quarter comeback in a 116-108 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night that tied their Eastern Conference semifinal at two games apiece.
The two teams have alternated victories in this best-of-seven series, which continues Wednesday with Game 5 in Boston.
Horford scored 16 points and Tatum 12 in the fourth quarter alone to help the Celtics outscore the defending NBA champion Bucks 43-28 in the final period. Horford's 30 points were a career playoff high for the 35-year-old veteran. Tatum scored eight points and Horford had six during a 14-2 run that put the Celtics ahead for good and gave them a 106-96 advantage with 3:33 left. The Bucks wouldn't cut the margin below six the rest of the way.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 34 points, 18 rebounds and five assists for the Bucks.
Tatum had 13 rebounds and five assists while bouncing back from a poor Game 3, when he had 10 points and shot 4 for 19. Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart each added 18 points for the Celtics. Horford sparked the rally after Boston trailed by 11 late in the third quarter.
Warriors 101, Grizzlies 98: Their coach sidelined again as has happened several times before, even during the playoffs, Stephen Curry took charge and led the Golden State Warriors back.
Mike Brown grabbed the clipboard as acting head coach, just like he did during a title run five years ago with Steve Kerr out. Curry converted eight free throws over the final 45.7 seconds on the way to 32 points, igniting the Warriors down the stretch on the way to a 101-98 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night and a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference semifinals.
Curry also dished out eight assists as Golden State rallied to win without Kerr after he tested positive for COVID-19
less than two hours before tipoff.
“Obviously there's butterflies, because again you're going into the game with a certain mindset and it's a big game. Every game that we play at this point in the year, it's huge,” said Brown, who agreed Sunday to become the Sacramento Kings new coach after this postseason run. So to have that kind of thrown at you, you've got to switch gears because I know what my responsibilities are going in as Mike Brown the assistant coach, and it changes.”
But Brown has done this previously. He led the Warriors to an 11-0 record during the 2017 title run when Kerr was out dealing with debilitating symptoms from complications of back surgery two years earlier.
“His head coaching record for a Warrior playoff game I think is undefeated,” Klay Thompson said. “We did miss Steve a lot, just his voice, his presence, but we've been here before, 2017 when Mike took over and we rolled off a lot of wins, so I reflected on that a lot.”