Bucks rally from 14 down in fourth, beat Celtics to take a 3-2 series lead
Giannis Antetokounmpo was having his best shoot- ing night of the playoffs. Milwaukee dominated on the boards. And still the Bucks trailed Boston by 14 points in a game that could send the defending NBA champions to the brink of elimination.
That's when Jrue Holiday showed the Defensive Player of the Year a thing or two about defense.
Bobby Portis put back Antetokounmpo's missed free throw with 15 seconds left, and Holiday snuffed Marcus Smart on Boston's final two possessions Wednesday night as Milwaukee erased a 14-point, fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Celtics 110-107 and take a 3-2 series lead.
“Obviously, in Boston you're down 14 in the fourth quarter, people would say everything's against us. But we come together,” said Holiday, who also hit the tying 3-pointer with 43 seconds left. “We live and die like that.”
Antetokounmpo had 40 points and 11 rebounds, making 16 of 27 shots — including a long 3-pointer to make it 105-102 with 1:40 to play. Holiday finished with 24 points, eight rebounds and eight assists and Portis added 14 points and 15 rebounds. The Bucks can advance to the Eastern Conference finals with a victory in Game 6 at home Friday night. bounce back.”
Milwaukee had 17 offensive rebounds to Boston's five, with Portis grabbing seven.
Jaylen Brown scored 16 points 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. It was 93-79 with 10:19 to play — Boston's biggest blown lead in the playoffs in more than 25 years.
GRIZZLIES 134, WARRIORS 95 » Jaren Jackson Jr., Desmond Bane and Tyus Jones each scored 21 points and Memphis routed Golden State to avoid elimination and force a sixth game in the Western Conference semifinal.
The Grizzlies never trailed at home, 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 largest in a playoff game in the past 70 years.
Klay Thompson led Golden State with 19 points.
Game 6 is Friday night in San Francisco.