But, each time Boston responded with a key bucket, including a Smart basket that made it 121-118 Celtics with 2:27 to go. A day after formally signing Argentinian guard Luca Vildoza, the Bucks waived injured forward DeAndre Bembry to once again open up a 15th and final roster spot. Bucks rally late in Antetokounmpo's return for 117-113 win Tatum and Brown will likely see some action, but probably not the big workload they got in Wednesday night's blowout. Conference record won't be a factor in. In terms of tiebreakers, the Heat will lose their season series to Boston regardless of Wednesdays outcome, but the Heat are tied 2-2 with both Philadelphia and Milwaukee. Rockets, at Knicks. Boston got big offensive performances from its three best players, with Tatum, Smart (21) and Brown (22) combining for 89 points. At some point, it would be nice to see this group put together a sustained run of success. While finishing second in the East would bring home-court advantage in the second round, there's also a good chance it will bring a first-round matchup with the Brooklyn Nets. 2 seed when it could very likely mean a first-round matchup with the Nets? You could make a case, however, that he isn't even the best defensive guard in this series. Since the Jazz own the tiebreaker, one more win or one more Denver loss would seal the No. A daily roundup of Boston Celtics news from Celtics Blog, By submitting your email, you agree to our, Jayson Tatum ejected in ugly Celtics loss to Knicks: I just told him this was probably the best officiated game Ive been a part of. Bucks vs. Celtics is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Here's a look at their shots in the final five minutes: The Celtics turned things around this season -- and have had the most success this series -- when they started moving the ball, getting into the teeth of the defense and putting teams in rotation. And so, that's a long way of saying the Celtics would claim the No. If the Bucks win their final two games (at Detroit and at Cleveland), they'll be the No. After the defending champs dispatched the Chicago Bulls last night, the Eastern Conference Semifinals is set between Milwaukee and Boston. But Grayson is doing his best. Grant Williams thought he got the Greek Freak at 10:16 of the fourth, only to have the Bucks challenge and win. Milwaukee Bucks. Bucks Tuesday NBA injury report, odds: Boston can clinch crucial tiebreaker but facing longest odds in nearly 2 years with Jayson Tatum out, other starters questionable It's a potential Eastern Conference playoff preview tonight when Boston visits Milwaukee, but the Celtics are short-handed. The Bucks jumped the Celtics for the No. Early in the frame, as the Celtics were threatening to pull away, the Bucks knocked down three 3-pointers in a two-minute span to stay attached. Here are three key takeaways from the game: The Bucks should have lost on Wednesday night, and 99 times out of 100 they would have considering the circumstances. But let's assume that isn't happening. 6. And no one needs to be reminded about the vaccination kerfuffle the Celtics may encounter should they need to head cross the border. Again, for this tiebreaker to even come up, Milwaukee has to lose to Cleveland, so next it becomes about record against playoff teams in the East. Cleveland Cavaliers. 2 seed in the East, while the Brooklyn Nets have vaulted to the No. The Nuggets have a comfortable lead atop the Western Conference and appear poised to break through with their two-man core of Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. Here are four takeaways from Celtics-Bucks. Milwaukee was without reserve guard Grayson Allen (left hip soreness), but Bobby Portis scored 17 points off the bench for the Bucks. The Boston Celtics were severely shorthanded in Tuesday night's road game against the Milwaukee Bucks and nearly pulled off an upset. Terms at draftkings.com/sportsbook. They're going to have to beat good teams to get to where they ultimately want to go. He's given the Celtics a little of everything with Horford and Williams missing some games during the last week. Mike Muscala leads the Celtics with 10 points in the 1Q vs. the Bucks#bleedgreen pic.twitter.com/M5XZQZZTiy. 2004-2023 CBS Interactive. 7. DraftKings Sportsbook has the Bucks favored by 6.5 points at home over the Celtics, priced at -265 on the moneyline. Daniel Theis added 22 points for Boston. It was very frustrating, he said. The Milwaukee Bucks woke up Wednesday in a three-way tie for second in the Eastern Conference standings, knotted at 49-30 with Boston and Philadelphia. Now that you've had a chance to breathe. The 13-time All-Star, who was dealt to Phoenix on Feb. 9, has not played in a game since Jan. 8 when he was with the Nets. On Tuesday, we laid out how the Boston Celtics' Eastern Conference competitors could do them a solid in their quest for an ideal NBA playoff draw. Preview capsule for the Boston-Milwaukee Eastern Conference semifinal series that starts Sunday: No. Even before then I had questions about this teams halfcourt offense and how it will hold up in the postseason. Way to find a way to win Celtics. The result of that game not only clinched the season series (and thus the head-to-head tiebreaker) for the Bucks over the Sixers, it also moved Milwaukee to second in the East and Philly to fourth. He's also hitting 48.8 percent from beyond the arc during that span. 1 min read. As for the Sixers the only shot they have at the No. 3:22 pm ET. A little heavy, coach Ime Udoka called it. But the Bucks were able to crash the glass and create extra possessions. timeout to try and patch it up, and giannis gets to the line. A Heat win would extend their lead over Boston as well as idle Milwaukee and Philadelphia. But with Kevin Durant healthy and Kyrie Irving just cleared to play in home games, they are not a typical first round matchup for one of the top teams in the conference. Die trying: Celtics three-point shooting hits season low against Knicks, Ice cold in New York: Takeaways from Celtics-Knicks. Bostons Jayson Tatum already had a flashy resume, from three All-Star appearances and an All-NBA selection to a contract paying him upwards of $163 million from this season through 2025-26. In order to keep the No. Joel Embiid is most likely the answer here. Please enjoy the last 42 seconds of the game. As of April 9, the three teams could still tie, but with Boston holding a tiebreaker over Philadelphia, the only scenario here would be Boston tying Philadelphia for the Atlantic Division lead and Boston earning that division crown. 8 spot in the playoffs and a matchup with the No. 2 or No. Needless to say, the NBA landscape is looking a little different in the final quarter of the season, with the dust almost entirely settled roster wise post-trade deadline and All-Star break. The good news for the Bucks is that they have a lot of control here. Instead of trying to frame the narrative in Game 6, Tatum wrote the whole darn story. The Hawks are also just one game back of the Cavs, and if Atlanta wins its final two (at Miami and at Houston), it would force Cleveland -- in addition to beating Brooklyn -- to also win its final game of the season (vs. Milwaukee) because the Hawks own the tiebreaker via a 3-1 head-to-head advantage. And the depth next to Giannis is now the best its ever been. Whether that happens is pretty much a toss-up, as the Cavs and Heat could be locked into their seeding by the time they play the Nets and Hawks, respectively. The wing depth is actually solid, and Deandre Ayton has had great playoff moments in the past. It doesnt feel entirely impossible for the Wests current third seed to sneak into the Finals. SPORTS ILLUSTRATED is a registered trademark of ABG-SI LLC. It will be tough for them to overcome that massive hurdle. Since the Bucks and Celtics are tied inhead-to-head series at 2-2, we have to move to the next tiebreaker. what a time for them to find their shooting stroke, On a mission. If they lose that 7-8 game, they would face the winner of the 9-10 game with the winner of that game securing the No. The veteran forward has found his stroke from 3-point range, too. The Celtics have the toughest schedule of any of the top four teams in the East as their remaining opponents have a combined win percentage of .548 and four of their final six games come against teams that are not just over .500, but over .600 so far this season. The season series also is tied, and the third and final meeting between these teams isn't until March 30 in Milwaukee. The 35-year-old guard returned to action March 14, and Hill spoke about the injury for the first time at shootaround Thursday morning. The Bucks had a 13-point lead at one point and then trailed most of the fourth quarter, and a dramatic final few minutes were set up by the fact the Celtics ran out of the gates in the fourth quarter with seven straight points to take a 104-102 lead with 10:24 left in the game. So, in summation, Boston is in line for the No. But as our Chris Forsberg observes, there's still a lot to be sorted out ahead of the Celtics' back-to-back with the Bulls (Wednesday night) and Bucks (Thursday night). The Sixers have to finish a game ahead of the Bucks because Milwaukee owns the tiebreaker via its 2-1 head-to-head advantage over the Sixers. Somehow, Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown collided and neither were able to grab the rebound, which popped right to Bobby Portis for the game-winning layup. Williams missed his 3rd consecutive game with an injured left knee as Boston kept its season alive Friday night in Milwaukee. Jrue Holiday led all players with 40 points and hit some massive 3-point shots late in the game, including one that gave Milwaukee a 127-125 lead with 25 seconds remaining in OT. It could be a huge matchup. Falling into the three-seed wouldn't be the worst thing to happen to Boston. The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA, its clubs or Turner Broadcasting. The Celtics' loss has trimmed their lead over the Bucks for first place in the Eastern Conference to just a half game. Boston then inched a half-game ahead of the others with a blowout win over Chicago on Wednesday night, in advance of the Celtics' battle with the Bucks on Thursday. I would have liked to see theGrizzliestake a bigger swing at the trade deadline than Luke Kennard, a shooter who doesnt really shoot enough. RotoWire considers the best player values in Yahoo fantasy leagues for Tuesday night's 10 game slate. Round 2. From that point on, they scored just six points and shot 2-for-8 from the field. There were plenty of reasons for the Celtics' collapse, a number of which have been detailed above. The Warriors, Mavericks, Heat and Celtics are the four remaining teams in the NBA Playoffs. The Pelicans, not so much. Boston is the only team in the top five in both offensive and defensive rating. If you are having difficulty accessing any content on this website, please visit our Accessibility page. This game also plays a big role in deciding a potential tiebreaker between these two teams, as Boston has a 2-1 lead in the season series over Milwaukee. Horford will almost certainly get the night off, leaving Boston without one of its best defenders against Giannis Antetokounmpo. The NBA's Noches ne B A celebration starts in March, where teams will commemorate fans and players across Latin American and U.S. Hispanic communities. That could be a pivotal game because if these teams finish tied in the standings at the end of the regular season, the winner of the season series will have the tiebreaker and get the higher seed. The ball went in bounds to Smart, who saw a brief opening and tried to go right to the basket. People will question Denvers defense, even though its played at a top-10 efficiency with Jokic on the floor. vibes) method gave theNetsthe second-best chance at winning it all this season, while theSunsin the middle of a downturncame in at ninth. Hes shooting 36%, including 5-of-20 on 3-pointers, and while Milwaukee has been outscored by 27 over the first six games, that number has been 43 when Allens on the court. NBA.com is part of Warner Media, LLCs Turner Sports & Entertainment Digital Network, *Translations are limited to select pages, Celtics' Williams misses 3rd straight game, 5 takeaways from Bucks' epic Game 5 comeback, Giannis posterized with massive Milwaukee mural, NBA set to celebrate Noches neBA program, NBA DFS Picks: Yahoo plays and strategy for Feb. 28, Durant expected to make Suns debut tonight, NBA DraftKings & FanDuel DFS Primer: Feb. 28, Scoot Henderson says hes ready for NBA Draft. ET on Thursday, April 7. 2022 Playoffs: East Semifinal | Celtics (2) vs. The most obvious problem is All-Star wing Khris Middletons continued absence with a left knee strain. The start of the third quarter kind of stands out to me [as a struggle]. Instead, the Bucks were able to hang around. The Celtics led by 12 points at one point in the third quarter, but the Bucks made a huge run and hit several clutch shots late in the fourth quarter to take a 116-113 lead with 7.4 seconds remaining. 2 seed is theirs. Even more impressive, Holiday recovered the loose ball and threw it off Smart. he'll have a chance to tie things up with 14.2 remaining, tatum goes quick out of the timeout and draws a foul, bucks have made six threes in the fourth quarter. Central division champion Milwaukee would thus only be competing in a head-to-head tiebreaker with Boston, and the two-team tiebreaker againstthe Celtics (laid out below) thus applies. Its gotten a lot better and Ill revisit it this summer.". Both would also be divisional champions in a scenario where the teams tie, so it's on to Eastern Conference win percentage. Kawhi Leonard is playing more and more like the player who was dominant in both the 2019 and 2021 playoffs, the latter of which had solid title potential until he got hurt. section: | slug: bucks-vs-celtics-score-takeaways-milwaukee-pulls-off-fourth-quarter-comeback-to-steal-game-5-against-boston | sport: basketball | route: live_blog_single | The Celtics shot 46.5%, the Bucks 16.7%. Bucks: vs. Celtics, at Detroit, at Cleveland Sixers: at Toronto, vs. Indiana, vs. Detroit Boston has by far the hardest schedule, although the Grizzlies are locked into the Western Conference's No. The Bucks clinched the head-to-head tiebreaker with Philadelphia on Tuesday winning the season series 2-1 they are tied with Miami 2. 8 seed. Milwaukee (.617) trails both Miami (.652) and Boston (.638) in conference win percentage. In fact, Im nervous about putting them this low. All Rights Reserved. CLUTCH HAUSER HITS THE 3 pic.twitter.com/m51ELo5Yvp Milwaukee used a 11-3 run early in the second quarter to help shake loose from Boston and take a 69-59 lead into halftime. Giannis' massive triple late in the fourth came from an offensive rebound, which was another key to the comeback. Brown led Boston with 13 points and six assists while White had 11 and Smart 10. 4 seed, they would avoid the Nets in the opening round, but they would only guarantee themselves home-court advantage for the opening round. 9:45 pm ET, at If Cleveland beats Brooklyn it won't quite clinch the No. The Bucks clinched the head-to-head tiebreaker with Philadelphia on Tuesday (winning the season series 2-1), they are tied with Miami (2-2) and currently trail Boston (1-2) with one final. CelticsStrong Celtics Basketball Game . Back then, my highly scientific (a.k.a. Most importantly, Giannis is an MVP-caliber player who can take his game to a place very few are capable of doing in the postseason. And so it went. @PicknSaveStores Photo of the Night pic.twitter.com/B4gn9HmX0H, AL HORFORD OUT OF NOWHERE pic.twitter.com/KUyuzYpU98, giannis with a three off the offensive rebound. Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. Now it's just a matter of seeding. at The Milwaukee Bucks woke up Wednesday in a three-way tie for second in the Eastern Conference standings, knotted at 49-30 with Boston and Philadelphia. 9:51 pm ET, at He would remain out with that designation through March 12 a span of 17 games. I spoke to a specialist; youre going to have pain playing with it no matter what," Hill said. Follow him on Twitter at @JRRadcliffe. Boston has the edgehere, owning a 20-13 record against the 10 Eastern Conference playoff qualifiers (a field that is set). 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