Deer in the headlights
C’s blow fourth-quarter lead in stunning Game 5 loss
They led by 14 points with 10:16 left, and by six at the 2:12 mark.
But the Celtics, unable to protect home court or the defensive glass, this time absorbed the worst part of the most physical series in the 2022 playoff field Wednesday night.
Bobby Portis’ putback off a missed Giannis Antetokounmpo free throw with 14.2 seconds left, followed by Jrue Holiday’s block on Marcus Smart, was the difference in the Celtics’ 110-107 Game 5 loss. The Bucks, paced by Antetokounmpo’s 40-point performance, thus took a 3-2 series lead, with Game 6 set for Friday night in Milwaukee.
The Celtics wasted a 34-point Jayson Tatum performance, and another 26 from Jaylen Brown. Making matters worse was the fact that Brown and Smart were both in position to grab Antetokounmpo’s missed free throw but collided, leaving Portis to grab the ball and finish off the play.
“Giving up the rebound on the free throw, that’s a tough one to swallow, especially knowing they have a poor free throw shooter up there,” said Ime Udoka. “You just have to find bodies and come up with that one. That’s going to sting but we have to put it behind us and understand that we still have a great opportunity. It’s not like we’ve been terribly outplayed and don’t have a chance. We have given up one and some games we’ve lost, we haven’t played our best. We proved last game we can go win one in Milwaukee and put the pressure on them back at our place.”
This time, though, the
Celtics face elimination in one of the toughest arenas in the NBA for a visiting team.
“We were hot, hot because we know we did it to ourselves, nobody else,” said Marcus Smart. “Turn around and go right back at it. Don’t have time to sulk, can’t put our heads down, it is what it is. On to the next one.
“Just move on. They did to us what we did to them the last game,” he said. “You just have to come back and keep swinging. We don’t have time to worry about how we lost. We don’t have time to say we lost and it hurt. No time for that. It hurts. It definitely hurts, but we don’t have time to feel it. Pretty simple. If you’re not ready for the next game then don’t step on the court. That’s how you get ready and move on.”
On a night when the Celtics clearly needed the help of Rob Williams, who missed his second straight game with knee soreness, they suffered through their worst rebounding night of this conference semifinal series.
The Bucks crashed for 17 offensive rebounds, parlayed into 20 second chance points. Portis was dominant on the glass with 14 points and 15 rebounds, including seven offensive boards — two more than the entire Celtics team.
There’s a big lesson there, said Smart.
“Lot of (lessons),” he said. “The main one — offensive rebound. If we boxed out, we win that game. That’s what it comes down to. They did a good job of getting extra shots and they hit them. They made us pay. Have to do a better job in that end, clean it up. They were defending champs, made some championship plays, and now we have to respond.”
By Tatum’s own admission, the Celtics also stagnated offensively after building to that peak 14-point lead. Holiday’s block on Smart ended a frantic sequence when the Celtics, without any timeouts left, scrambled to make something happen.
Though the play was called for Tatum to cut off a screen, Smart was forced to the basket and blocked from behind by Holiday. The Celtics guard admits he never saw Holiday.
“I didn’t see him. The play was actually JT was supposed to come up and get it, but everybody was just standing around and we had no timeouts, and there was a five-second count on the way, so I just got open and tried to make a play,” said Smart. “Jrue did a good job of helping. That’s it. Made a good play.”
Not even two minutes earlier, though, the Celtics appeared ready to finish this one off.
Al Horford’s tip-dunk of a Brown miss with 2:13 left was good for a 105-99 Celtics lead, after the Bucks had drawn as close as two points (101-99) on a Holiday jumper.
But Antetokounmpo hit from downtown, Tatum missed, Portis lost control of the ball under the basket, Smart lost the ball, and with 42 seconds left Holiday tied the score (105-105) with an up-top 3-pointer.
Tatum was fouled by Portis with 31.1 seconds left and hit twice for a 107-105 lead. Antetokounmpo was fouled by Grant Williams with 14.2 seconds left, and with the crowd howling the Bucks star swished the first and missed the second, only for Portis to convert the rebound with 11.2 seconds left for a 108107 Milwaukee lead.
Smart drove, only to be blocked by Holiday at the basket with 6.6 seconds left. Pat Connaughton was fouled with 5.9 seconds left, and the Arlington native hit twice for a 110-107 Bucks lead. Smart lost the ball coming up the floor to end the game.