Bucks hold off Celtics in frantic finish
MILWAUKEE — Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 42 points and made the go-ahead basket with 44.3 seconds left and the Milwaukee Bucks withstood a frantic flurry of shots in the final seconds to beat the Boston Celtics 103-101 on Saturday in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinal.
The defending champion Bucks lead the best-of-7 series 2-1, with Game 4 on Monday night in Milwaukee.
Boston trailed 103-100 when Marcus Smart was fouled by Jrue Holiday just before attempting a potential tying 3-pointer with 4.6 seconds remaining. Smart made the first free throw, then missed the second intentionally — flinging a shot that went hard off the backboard before hitting the rim
That’s when things got wild.
Smart got the rebound, but missed his putback attempt. Boston’s Robert Williams charged toward the basket and sent the ball up and off the glass. Al Horford was waiting on the right side with a putback attempt that also wentofftheglass.Horford then got his own rebound and banked it in, but his final shot came just after the buzzer sounded.
Replays confirmed Horford didn’t beat the clock.
Antetokounmpo also had 12 rebounds and eight assists. His driving finger roll helped the Bucks pull back ahead after blowing a 14-point lead.
After trailing by 13 with less than 10 minutes left, the Celtics pulled ahead 100-99 and took their first lead since early in their third quarter on Jaylen Brown’s two free throws with 1:49 remaining.
Both teams failed to score on their next possessions before Antetokounmpo put the Bucks back ahead. Antetokounmpo then blocked Brown’s driving layup attempt, leading to Holiday’s basket that made it 103-100 with 11.2 seconds remaining. Holiday had 25 points. Brown led the Celtics with 27 points and 12 rebounds. Horford had 22 points and 16 rebounds.