Tatum scores 46 points as Celtics force Game 7
Jayson Tatum scored 46 points and the Boston Celtics withstood a brilliant performance from Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo to win 108-95 on Friday night and force a Game 7.
With the defending champion Bucks attempting to complete a fourthquarter comeback for the second straight game and close out their Eastern Conference semifinal, the Celtics kept their season alive, the third straight win for a road team in this thrilling series.
“I wasn’t going to leave anything out there and have any regrets,” Tatum said.
After the Bucks reduced a 14-point deficit to four with slightly less than nine minutes left, Tatum took over. He scored 16 of Boston’s 26 fourth-quarter points.
“He was unbelievable,” said Antetokounmpo, who was pretty extraordinary in his own right with 44 points, 20 rebounds and six assists.
Tatum’s effort set up a winner-take-all matchup Sunday in Boston. The victor heads to Miami to begin an East finals matchup with the top-seeded Heat.
“I don’t think anybody’s won two games in a row in this series,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “Now, it’s the finality. You’ve got to go and find a way to get that fourth win and win the series. I think everybody in sport looks for that game. That college feel. That NCAA feel, where if you lose your season’s done, if you win, you keep going. It’s exciting.”
at Golden State 110, Memphis 96: Klay Thompson scored 30 points and Stephen Curry 29, and the pair combined for 14 threepointers as the Warriors eliminated the Grizzlies.