The Freeman

Bucks a win away from East Finals

Grizzlies maul Warriors to stay alive in West semis

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The Milwaukee Bucks erased a double-digit fourth-quarter deficit to beat Boston, 110-107, and push the Celtics to the brink of NBA playoff eliminatio­n as the Memphis Grizzlies stayed alive with a 134-95 drubbing of Golden State.

The Grizzlies, facing eliminatio­n and playing without injured All-Star guard Ja Morant, weren’t about to go out on their home floor.

They raced to a 38-28 first-quarter lead and never trailed as they cut the deficit in their best-of-seven Western Conference series to 3-2, sending it back to San Francisco on Friday (Saturday, Phl time).

Desmond Bane and Tyus Jones also scored 21 for the Grizzlies, who had seven players score in double figures in the wire-to-wire win.

Klay Thompson led the Warriors with 19 points. Jonathan Kuminga added 17 and superstar Stephen Curry scored 14 on fourof-10 shooting for the Warriors, who coughed up 22 turnovers leading to 29 Grizzlies points.

Up by as many as 55 late in the third quarter, the Grizzlies were flirting with NBA history, with the largest margin ever in the playoffs -- 58 points.

In contrast, it came down to the wire in Boston, where Giannis Antetokoun­mpo scored 40 points and Bobby Portis and Jrue Holiday came up big late as the reigning NBA champion Bucks rallied to take a 3-2 lead in their Eastern Conference series.

Reserve forward Portis put back Antetokoun­mpo’s missed free throw with 11.4 seconds remaining to give the Bucks a 108-107 lead.

Jrue Holiday plucked an attempted shot by Marcus Smart from the air with 8.1 seconds remaining before teammate Pat Connaughto­n added a pair of free throws to seal the comeback for a Bucks team that trailed by 14 early in the fourth quarter.

Holiday added 24 points, Portis scored 14 while Connaughto­n had 13 points off the bench for Milwaukee, which took a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference series and will have a chance to close it out when they host game six.

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined for 60 points for the Celtics.

 ?? AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE ?? Giannis Antetokoun­mpo #34 of the Milwaukee Bucks is fouled by Grant Williams #12 of the Boston Celtics during the second half of Game Five of the Eastern Conference Semifinals at TD Garden in Boston, Massachuse­tts.
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE Giannis Antetokoun­mpo #34 of the Milwaukee Bucks is fouled by Grant Williams #12 of the Boston Celtics during the second half of Game Five of the Eastern Conference Semifinals at TD Garden in Boston, Massachuse­tts.

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