The Milwaukee Bucks had a golden opportunity to fold the series of the second round of the play-offs which oppose them to the Boston Celtics and thus join the Miami Heat – qualified Thursday evening at the expense of the Philadelphia Sixers – in the Eastern Conference final. They fell on a bone named Jayson Tatum (46 points, 9 rebounds), who delivered Friday evening, at the Fiserv Forum, a huge score to allow his people to obtain the right to play a game 7, at home moreover , Sunday.
The defending champion has been chasing the score for too long to deserve a full return to the game. Carried by Giannis Antetokounmpo (44 points, 20 rebounds, 6), particularly skilful at free throws moreover (14 out of 15), the locals paid for a sluggish start to the match, marked above all by Boston’s crazy three-point success. After four minutes of play (6-15), the Celtics had already scored five winning shots, and confirmed the trend throughout the match (17 of 43 against 7 of 28 for Milwaukee).
clash of titans
For the Bucks, the main difficulty of the evening, beyond the inability to contain Tatum, was the lack of alternatives when Antetokounmpo was unable to play. Jrue Holiday (17 points at 7 of 17) was sorely lacking in impact and if the emergence of Pat Connaughton after the break blew a slight wind of madness in the Arena, it was not enough to waver an opponent who counted on his two other strong men, Jaylen Brown (22 points) and Marcus Smart (21 points, 7 assists), in order to succeed in the actions that hurt.
18
The Boston Celtics were up to 18 points ahead during the game (50-68). At the end of the first quarter, Milwaukee had a five-point advantage (22-17), very quickly squandered.
Distanced several times during the game (30-40, 43-53 at the break or 68-83), Mike Budenholzer’s men came back twice to four units (81-85 and 83-87). Each closer finding a response signed Tatum, whether in aggressiveness towards the circle or at three points.
His remote duel with Antetokounmpo offered a huge spectacle, which also reinforced the impressions of the main observers in the room: given the quality and intensity of play offered on the series, the future NBA champion could well be the winner of match 7 which is announced. Without even talking about the trophy, everyone agrees that the series looks like a final before the hour, which announces a very tasty Sunday.