When the city of Boston needed it most, the Celtics played one of their best games of the season and beat the Milwaukee Bucks (109-81). After trailing 3-2 in the tie, Ime Udoka’s men defied all predictions and earned a spot in the Eastern Conference Finals, where they will face the Miami Heat. Antetokounmpo led a powerless Bucks that could not with the great defense of the premises.
Grant Williams, who tied the record for most 3-pointers made in a Game 7 with seven, was the unlikely hero. The usual protagonists were also up to the task: Jayson Tatum scored 23 points and Jaylen Brown 19 in a game that is already historic for the Boston franchise. Marcus Smart once again guided the Celtics’ attack and finished with 11 points, 10 assists and 7 rebounds.
Despite the good individual statistics, what really stood out was the Celtics’ defense. All the players were very involved in stopping the Bucks’ stars, especially Antetokounmpo. The Greek was not comfortable in the second half and failed in some relatively simple actions for his talent. He only had 25 points, with 10 of 26 shooting from the field. Just as cruel were the Bucks’ errors from 3-point range: 4 of 33.
After an even first half, in which the Bucks had a 10-point lead, the game was broken after the break. The Celtics left the locker room with one more gear and raised their lead to double digits at the first change. Meanwhile, Milwaukee tried to stop the good local streak with timeouts, but the offensive explosion of the locals continued. A fourth foul by Tatum in the middle of the third quarter seemed like it could stop the run, but nothing could be further from the truth. With the help of Brown and Grant Williams, the Celtics raised their rent even more.
Already in the last quarter, another secondary like Payton Pritchard hit two consecutive triples and the advantage exceeded 20 points. Thus came the end of a game in which the Bucks attack was exhausted and could not gather resources to compete against Boston. In this way, the Celtics advanced to the round and reached their fourth conference finals in the last six seasons. Quite a feat.
El factor Grant Williams
The formula the Celtics used to get to victory was not typical. They did not entrust themselves too much to the «Jays». Instead, it was more important than usual for Grant Williams, who took on a high volume of pitches.
Boston’s outside talent creates tough calls for opposing defenses, and Milwaukee decided this series would focus on making consistent drive-in assists to the Celtics’ stars. In the seventh game this was evident in excess. The Bucks fielded their biggest players on Williams and challenged him to shoot from distance. Grant scored the first, but then had a couple of errors when the Celtics were worse off in the game.
Udoka noticed that Williams was not comfortable, but was able to reassure him: “Shoot without fear. Tonight they are disrespecting you more than in the other games of the series,” the coach told his player.
That sentiment was shared by the rest of the team every time Williams went to the bench. According to Udoka, the entire team asked Grant to continue pitching. Williams finished the game 7-for-18 from 3-point range. He broke Stephen Curry’s record for 3-pointers attempted in a Game 7 and tied his record for 3-pointers made. “Now I call him Grant Curry,” Brown joked.
(Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)