The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Bucks, Giannis top Boston in Game 1
Giannis Antetokounmpo had already picked up his dribble and spent half of a Eurostep when he realized he had nowhere to go with the ball.
Instead of attempting an off-balance shot or passing the ball to a well-guarded teammate, the two-time NBA MVP flicked the ball high off the backboard, then followed it to the rim for a slam dunk.
“That’s just pure talent, just pure instinct,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said on May 1 after Antetokounmpo recorded his second career postseason triple-double in a 101-89 victory over the Boston Celtics.
“He’s a great player. He does things that are unique and special and timely,” Budenholzer said. “That’s one of those plays where you’re happy he’s on our side.”
Antetokounmpo had 24 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists as Milwaukee quickly grabbed homecourt advantage in the second-round series. Jrue Holiday had 25 points and 10 rebounds and Bobby Portis had 15 points and 11 boards for the defending NBA champions.
Game 2 is May 3 in Boston.
Jayson Tatum scored 21 and Jaylen Brown had 12 points, but the two Boston stars combined to shoot 10 for 31 in the game. Al Horford added 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Celtics, who fired up 50 3-pointers, making 18, and shot 33% from the floor as a team.
“Offensively, not our best night. I thought we guarded well enough,” Celtics coach
Ime Udoka said. “To lose a 12-point game when we shot so poorly bodes well for us. In a way it’s good to get this dud out of the way, offensively.”
After shutting down Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in a four-game sweep of the Brooklyn Nets, Boston couldn’t stop Antetokounmpo — even with greenhaired Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart shaking off a shoulder injury.
• Klay Thompson hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 36 seconds left, and the Golden State Warriors overcame Draymond Green’s firsthalf ejection to edge the Memphis Grizzlies, 117-116, in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals.
Jordan Poole led the Warriors with 31 points off the bench, hitting 5 of 10 3-pointers. Stephen Curry added 24 points, Andrew Wiggins had 17 and Thompson finished with 15.
Green was ejected for a flagrant foul just before halftime.
Thompson missed both free throws with 6.7 seconds left, then Memphis won a jump ball before taking a timeout with 3.6 seconds remaining to set up the final play. The Grizzlies ran a play similar to Ja Morant’s last-second layup to win Game 5 in the first round, but Morant’s layup went over the rim.
Morant finished with 34 points and 10 assists, and Jaren Jackson Jr. matched his season high with six 3-pointers and had a careerhigh 33 points as Memphis’ first pair of teammates to score at least 30 in a playoff game. D’Anthony Melton added 14, and Brandon Clarke had 12.
The Grizzlies finished their first-round series by coming back from doubledigit deficits in their final three wins — the first team in NBA history to do that
more than once in a postseason, let alone a series. They came in leading the NBA in the fourth with an average of 33 points and outscoring opponents by 10.3 points a game.
This time, they could only match the Warriors point for point.
Memphis edged the Warriors out for the No. 2 seed in the West by tying the franchise record with 56 wins, and the Grizzlies also took three of four in their season series. Thompson only played one and Green two of those games and Curry three.
This was a rematch with role reversals from the 2015 semifinal the Warriors won as the younger team with Memphis led by experienced vets. This also was just the first time the Warriors started a conference semifinal on the road and third playoff series Golden State didn’t start at home with Steve Kerr as coach.