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Key Moment
The Celtics and Bucks fought back-and-forth all the way to the finish Thursday night at Fiserv Forum, where there were six lead changes or ties during the final three minutes of regulation. What was mostly a defensive battle throughout the night all came down to which team could make its shots in the end.
The lead-changing frenzy began at the 2:48 mark of the fourth quarter, when Kyrie Irving knocked down a 3-pointer to put Boston on top 90-89.
The game went scoreless over the next 58 seconds, but then had three lead changes over the following 24 seconds. First, Malcolm Brogdon snagged the lead for Milwaukee at the 1:50 mark on a jumper from the free-throw line. Irving responded 13 seconds later with a nifty, driving layup, and then Eric Bledsoe exploded for a driving layup of his own nine seconds after that.
The rapid-fire stretch was broken on Boston's next possession as Irving missed a driving floater. Kris Middleton snagged the rebound and dished it off to Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was fouled by Al Horford in transition.
Antetkounmpo made both free-throws, extending Milwaukee's lead to three points, but Horford made up for his foul on Boston's next possession by knocking down a 3-pointer to tie the game, 95-95.
The deadlock only lasted 22 seconds, before Middleton knocked down a triple of his own, giving the Bucks a 98-95 lead with 32.5 seconds to go. Five seconds later, Irving found an open lane to the basket and banked in an easy layup to cut Boston's deficit back down to one, setting up for a chaotic finish.
Milwaukee tried to take as much time off the clock as possible on its next possession, as the Celtics opted not to foul. Instead, Marcus Smart worked his crunch-time magic and was able to nearly wrestle the ball free of Antetkounmpo's grasp, forcing a jump ball with 3.7 seconds left in the game and 0.2 left on the shot clock.
The Bucks won the jump ball, but they were immediately called for a shot-clock violation, which allowed Boston to have one final possession. The C's took a timeout, allowing them to inbound at mid-court, where Smart would feed Irving at the top of the arc for the game's final attempt.
Irving thrashed his way toward the hoop, splitting the defense before lofting up a driving hook shot, but the ball thudded off of the back of the rim and out.
"I felt good about our last action," C's coach Brad Stevens said after the game. "It looked like we might have a layup opportunity there. Then you’ve got Kyrie coming up to the top and you feel good about that all the time.”
Unfortunately, it didn't work out for Boston on this occasion, as it fell 98-97 to the Bucks.
Key Player
Al Horford entered the All-Star break on a hot streak, and he returned even hotter.
Boston's veteran big man had two of his best games of the season just before the break, as he tallied 23 points eight rebounds, five assists and four steals against Joel Embiid and the 76ers, before logging 17 points, a season-high 14 rebounds and eight assists against Andre Drummond and the Pistons.
Horford trumped both of those performances Thursday night, as he returned from the weeklong break and put up 21 points, 17 rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two steals during 37 minutes of turnover-free action against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks.
The 21 points represented Horford's fourth-highest scoring effort of the season, while the 17 boards represented the most prolific rebounding effort of his Celtics career.
While Boston came up short in the end, it was still a good sign to see its veteran big man emerge from the All-Star break refreshed and still playing at the top of his game.
Box Score Nuggets
- In his first game back from a knee injury, Kyrie Irving logged 41 minutes and scored 22 points.
- Giannis Antetokounmpo was the game's leading scorer with 30 points.
- Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton corralled 13 rebounds apiece.
- Seven of Al Horford's game-high 17 rebounds came at the offensive end.
- The C's shot a season-low 38.2 percent, attempted only six free throws, and still only lost by one point.
- Both teams knocked down 14 3-pointers, though Milwaukee took one less attempt (39).
- The Bucks turned the ball over 15 times, while Boston only coughed up the rock on seven occasions.
- Six different Celtics players blocked a shot, led by Horford's three swats.
- There were 105 rebounds corralled between both teams – 55 for the Bucks and 50 for the C's.
- Four Celtics players logged multiple steals. Smart snagged three, leading the game in that category.
Quote of the Night
Jayson Tatum on Boston shaking off the post-All-Star rust.