Tatum’s huge effort helps Celtics stay alive
He drops 46 points to send series with Bucks to Game 7
Jayson Tatum scored 46 points, outdueling Giannis Antetokounmpo and making sure there wouldn’t be another Milwaukee Bucks fourth-quarter comeback, and the Boston Celtics beat the defending champions 108-95 on Friday night to force a seventh game in their Eastern Conference semifinal.
The third straight victory for a road team sets up a winner-take-all game Sunday in Boston. The victor heads to Miami to begin an East finals matchup with the topseeded Heat on Tuesday.
Boston showed its grit by bouncing back two nights after blowing a 14-point, fourth-quarter lead in a 110-107 Game 5 home loss. The Bucks tried to rally again after trailing by 14 points in the final period, but this time Tatum kept the Celtics’ season alive.
Antetokounmpo had 44 points, 20 rebounds and six assists. His 20 rebounds were one off his career high.
Jaylen Brown scored 22 and Marcus Smart had 21 for the Celtics, who capitalized on their superiority from 3-point range. The Celtics were 17 of 43 and the Bucks 7 of 27 from beyond the arc.
WNBA Fever 92, Liberty 86 (OT):
Kelsey Mitchell scored 24 points, Victoria Vivians added 20 and Indiana beat New York in overtime. Danielle Robinson scored eight of her 17 points in overtime, breaking a tie with two free throws with 24.9 seconds left. Robinson made her season debut after returning Sunday from playing overseas. On the ensuing possession New York turned it over as Natasha Howard couldn’t catch a pass from Sabrina Ionescu, who scored 31 points. Howard had a rough night, missing 14 of her 15 field goal attempts. Robinson was then fouled and made the
second of two free throws with 14.4 seconds left to make it a three-point game giving New York (1-2) one last chance. Ionescu’s 3-pointer from the top of the key bounced off the rim and Vivians made the first of two free throws to seal the win.
Aces 96, Dream 73:
A’ja Wilson scored 15 points, Kelsey Plum had 14 points and 11 assists and Las Vegas rolled to a victory over Atlanta. Wilson also had seven rebounds and five blocks to help Las Vegas improve to 3-1 overall and 2-1 on the road. Aari Mcdonald scored 20 points for Atlanta (2-1), making 5 of 7 from 3-point range. Rhyne Howard had 13 points.
Wings 94, Mystics 86: Arike Ogunbowale scored 27 points, Allisha Gray had 21 and Dallas overcame a 15-point secondquarter deficit to beat Washington. Ogunbowale took over after Dallas (1-1) fell behind 38-23 with 3:34 remaining in the second quarter. She hit three straight 3-pointers in a minute second span, scoring 14 of her 18 points in the quarter from there to pull the Wings to 44-41 at halftime. Gray tied it with a 3-pointer 20 seconds into the third period, accounting for 12 points to help the Wings take a 66-55 lead into the fourth. The Mystics (3-1) got no closer than six points in the final quarter.