Photo via Twitter / Bucks
Every Milwaukee Bucks win in their Eastern Conference semifinal has featured a big moment, and arguably none bigger than the finale of game five on Wednesday night. A major Jrue Holiday block sealed the game for the Bucks, who won 110-107.
The roars inside TD Garden in Boston during the first half of the game would have convinced you that there was no chance that Milwaukee was walking out with a victory and the series lead. Celtics fans certainly made for a hostile environment, especially after Boston edged out a close win to tie the series in Milwaukee on Monday. The first quarter was close, as every game between the two evenly matched teams has been thus far. Milwaukee jumped out to a quick lead on a string of three-pointers, but that would be whittled away before the end of the period. Jaylen Brown was the first to wake up for Boston, and the rest of their starters would follow suit. It was not going to be an easy night.
The Celtics would break things open for the first time in the second quarter, when a string of big plays, including a momentum-shifting alley oop to Jason Tatum brought everyone in the building to their feet. Milwaukee went cold for a bit, including a Giannis Antetokounmpo three-pointer that wedged in the rim, making for yet another way that he could miss the shot from behind the perimeter that has alluded him all postseason. The Celtics led by as much as 13, but would only take a seven point advantage into the break. It felt like more after the Boston rally.
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The Bucks would rally coming back out of the locker room for the second half, but Boston regained the momentum and started to gain some separation by the end of the third quarter. The Bucks closed the gap thanks to a flurry of second-chance points, but the Celtics would pull away with 16 points in the third quarter from Jaylen Brown making for a nine point lead at the third quarter break. The lead would extend to 14 with a quick flurry of Boston baskets, but the Bucks would slowly make cut that down midway through the fourth quarter. Four straight made three-point attempts would shift the mood amongst the Boston crowd, and things got tight down the stretch, as just about everyone could expect.
Predictably, Giannis would take over in the final minute, but he had some big help. He finished with 39 points, including finally hitting a big three-pointer and making some big defensive stops. Bobby Portis would chip in a go-ahead bucket with 11 seconds to play. Jrue Holiday, however, was the difference maker down the stretch. First, he tied the game with a three-pointer and only 37 seconds to play. Then, with six seconds remaining, Holiday denied Marcus Smart the chance to take the lead for Boston by blocking his shot, stealing the ball, and throwing it off of Smart to give the Bucks the ball back. If that wasn’t enough, he also stole the ball from Smart again with two seconds to play, in an elite defensive sequence to put the game away.
Milwaukee now has the chance to reach the Eastern Conference finals (in six) at home on Friday night, when the series returns to Fiserv Forum. For as unhappy as the plane ride likely was to Boston, it was surely a sweet return flight.
Game six of the Eastern Conference semifinals will tip off on Friday night at 6:30 p.m., with coverage on ESPN. Deer District on a Friday night with the chance to close out the Celtics will likely be a busy scene, with a watch party beginning two hours prior to tipoff. The fans will certainly have plenty to be optimistic about.
