Bucks hang on to top Celtics for 3-2 lead
BOSTON – Bobby Portis made a putback off Giannis Antetokounmpo’s missed free throw with 15 seconds left, Jrue Holiday snuffed Marcus Smart on Boston’s final two possessions and the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Celtics 110107 on Wednesday night to take a 3-2 series lead. Antetokounmpo had 40 points and 11 rebounds, Holiday finished with 24 points, eight rebounds and eight assists and Portis added 14 points and 15 rebounds for the defending NBA champion Bucks.
Milwaukee has a chance to wrap up the Eastern Conference semifinal in Game 6 at home Friday night. The Celtics need a win to force a decisive seventh game back in Boston on Sunday.
The Celtics led by 14 in the fourth quarter before the Bucks closed the gap, tying it at 105 on Holiday’s 3-pointer with 43 seconds left. Jayson Tatum, who scored 34 points in all, hit a pair of free throws to give Boston the lead.
Antetokounmpo went to the the line with a chance to tie it and made the first, then Portis grabbed the rebound of the second and put it in off the backboard to give Milwaukee its first lead since early in the second quarter.
Smart drove to the basket but Holiday blocked him and came away with the ball, throwing it off Smart while falling out of bounds. Pat Connaughton made a pair of free throws with six seconds left, then Holiday stole the ball from Smart on his desperation dash for a potential game-tying 3-pointer.
The have Bucks won two of the three games in Boston to swipe home-court advantage.
Antetokounmpo had his best shooting game of the series, going 16 for 27, but he also committed seven turnovers.
Jaylen Brown scored 26 points for Boston, 16 of them in the third – and 12 of those in the last four minutes of the quarter, when Boston turned a 71-68 edge into a 12-point lead.
Grizzlies 134, Warriors 95: Jaren Jackson Jr., Desmond Bane and Tyus Jones each scored 21 points and host Memphis routed Golden State to avoid elimination and force a sixth game in the Western Conference semifinal.
Dillon Brooks added 12 points for Memphis. Ziaire Williams and Brandon Clarke had 11 apiece and De’anthony Melton 10. Steven Adams had 13 rebounds, six offensive. The Grizzlies never trailed, turning in their best performance of this series to pull to 3-2 even with All-star guard Ja Morant sitting out his second straight game because of a bone bruise in his right knee. They improved to 4-11 when facing elimination. Memphis scored 77 points in the first half, the most in franchise postseason history. The Grizzlies pushed their lead to 55 in the third quarter, threatening the three biggest postseason blowouts in NBA history. Their 52-point lead after three tied for the largest in a playoff game in the past 70 years. Game 6 is Friday night in San Francisco, where the Warriors have won five straight playoff games and their last seven overall.