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Celtics Wrap: Bucks Stun Boston In Game 5 With Fourth-Quarter Comeback
The Celtics coughed up a fourth-quarter lead


by Greg Dudek

The Boston Celtics couldn’t hold on in the fourth quarter as the Milwaukee Bucks stormed back to defeat the Celtics, 110-107, in Game 5 on Wednesday night at TD Garden.

With the win, the Bucks lead the series, 3-2, and are one win away from reaching the Eastern Conference finals.

ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
Allowing the Bucks to crash the offensive glass successfully ended up costing the Celtics dearly.

The Bucks grabbed 17 offensive boards, including a monumental one by Bobby Portis in the final seconds off a Giannis Antetokounmpo missed free throw. Portis secured the rebound and put the ball back in with 11.4 seconds left.

Milwaukee got second-chance points all night and that allowed the Bucks to erase a double-digit fourth-quarter deficit.

Poor rebounding — the Bucks held a 49-36 rebound advantage — has now pushed the Celtics to the brink of elimination.

What Bruins' Brad Marchand Said To Tony DeAngelo In Heated Exchange

STARS OF THE GAME
— Jayson Tatum has certainly answered for his poor Game 3 performance. Tatum turned in a team-high 34 points on 12-of-29 shooting while adding six rebounds and four assists. For Tatum it was his second straight game with at least 30 points.


— Jaylen Brown pulled the Celtics out of another sluggish third quarter. Brown netted 16 of his 26 points in the frame, capping his hot hand with a step-back 3-pointer, to keep the Bucks at bay. Brown also recorded eight rebounds and six assists.

— Antetokounmpo continues to lead the way for the Bucks. The Greek Freak poured in a game-high 40 points on 16-for-27 shooting along with grabbing 11 rebounds.

WAGER WATCH
Taking the over on the point total would have been a winning bet. According to DraftKings Sportsbook, the over/under was set 211.5 points, and it took until the final seconds of the fourth quarter to get over that total. The Celtics and Bucks combined for 217 points.

UP NEXT
The series shifts back to Milwaukee for a pivotal Game 6 on Friday at Fiserv Forum. The NBA has yet to announce when the game will tipoff.

112288

THEY HAD THAT GAME LOCKED. THEY NEVER WENT TO BROWN IN THE 4TH AS THEY DID IN THE 3RD! TURNOVERS TURNOVERS TURNOVERS!

THEY PLAYED LIKE shoot!

112288

Duplicate.

A big dang! Why slow down and go to 1-1 game in the 4th. Just keep playing.

We stopped attacking and walked the ball up too slowly against their set defense once we built up the 14 point lead. GWill 0 points, Jaylen a great 16 point 3rd quarter and 1 point in the 4th. He’s got to know how to find/get better shots in crucial 4th quarter stretches and Ime has to put him in better positions to attack and facilitate. No excuse for Jaylen to get 1 point in 4th of such a big game, that’s on Udoka and Jaylen. Jaylen is so talented, stronger and faster than Tatum, he needs better coaching….1 fo(king point in the 4th, all blown iso’s where he lost his rhythm!!!!

Having said all that, if Smart only catches the defensive board on Giannis miss, we are up 3-2, how does he lose that ball? Got killed on the glass 49-36, that was the Timelord effect. Kid is so fragile, can we ever trust his availability? Can we get Moses Brown back? Issiah Stewart? Wasted great games by White and Theis. Theis had it going off simple cuts and plays, should have played him more. GWill made some hustle plays, but otherwise stunk up the joint.

Actually Jaylen only went 0-2 in 4th, how does he only get 2 shots off in 4th? As soon as he got in, should have had a play called for him.

I made almost the same statement BEFORE the game. I am sorry, that kid should had tried to play. We are babying these young guys too much. If this is what is going to happen during the most important games, we need to get someone else.

The worst 6 minutes of basketball since November. They forgot what got them this far

RosalieTCeltics wrote:I made almost the same statement BEFORE the game.  I am sorry, that kid should had tried to play. We are babying these young guys too much. If this is what is going to happen during the most important games, we need to get someone else.  

The worst 6 minutes of basketball since November.  They forgot what got them this far

Exactly if he can’t play, we can’t rely on him. Life isn’t fair, Lopez came back from back surgery, he’s 36.

RosalieTCeltics wrote:I made almost the same statement BEFORE the game.  I am sorry, that kid should had tried to play. We are babying these young guys too much. If this is what is going to happen during the most important games, we need to get someone else.  

The worst 6 minutes of basketball since November.  They forgot what got them this far

SPOT ON ROSALIE!

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Unfortunately, we're beginning to hint at and see some of the chinks in our armor as the playoffs are notorious for doing to every team except the one that holds up the trophy at the end.  

And surprisingly it's the same ones we've heard all season and you hope you can get through the playoffs and keep them under wraps without the ghosts coming out of the closet.  

In no particular order...

1)  RWIII.  Great on the court.  Not so great on the bench all the time.  Hard to count on him, like it or not.  

2)  ISO Ball - Hard to teach an old dog new tricks when, according to Charles, one's sphincter is tightening up.

3)  Turnovers - Our number was actually below our average but when they happen can be devastating.

4)  Inconsistent play - My last comment before the game was we haven't played except maybe one game where we steamrolled teams like we did over the last half of the season.  I know it's the playoffs, but come on.  One game out of 9?    

That being said, clearly neither team in this series is afraid to win on the road.  One phrase we have used ad nauseum to describe this team is that they find a way to win.  Now we need to add to that ...when it counts.

No one on this site will disagree with me when I say well, the next game in MIL counts big time.  Backs against the wall.  Clearly, win or go home.  3rd time has to be the charm.  (Losing G1, Losing G3...) Three strikes and we're out.

Great game.  Just two heavyweights going at it.  MIL playing like defending champs, Boston learning on the fly.  Ime will figure it out.  1000% confidence in this man.  Coach Bud is clearly no slouch.  Don't let his calm, soothing demeanor fool you.  He is a mastermind savage, wolf in sheep's clothing.  Ime has his hands full.  We have the better team on paper.  Yet they're up 3-2 heading back home.  

db

Here is another gripe I had from last night, where was Theis? Only 11 minutes? We could have used him in the 3rd and early 4th Q. He would have given us defense, shot making and rebounding. Why White?

That being said and off my chest, let us get down to brass tacks!

First, this is an incomplete team. Our bench is too limited in many ways and so IME is limited as to who he can put on the floor in general, and in certain match-up situations.

Robert Williams is a gifted rebounder and defender, however he has many short comings. He is hurts the Celtics on offense as he cannot shoot the 3 ball or at least a shot from inside the arc. On defense, he also cannot physically stop big centers like the Greek or Embiid on Philly.

So we need to get a more physical center to at least come off the bench or a bigger power forward other then Grant Williams who plays at 6'6". Way under size for center or power forward. I think Grant can be moved to small forward and do spot duties at center or small forward against smaller teams or match-ups.

Also remember, Big Al is not getting younger. We need someone to give Al an extended life in the NBA by limiting his minutes come next year.

Pritchard is someone on the bench who can give you minutes off the bench but he has been forced to play more minutes as usual and is just not performing as he had during the season. His shot is not falling and he is a defensive liability at times.

Brad needs to lengthen the bench come the off - season to give IME 10 go to players off the bench in match-ups. We need a BIG at center or power forward, we need pure shooters, we need a vet point guard.

Brad needs to cut the dead wood during the summer and get legit veteran bench guys.

Tatum................Hummmm........... He is Mr. Hot and Cold especially from 3 point land. He is what he is, so you have to live or die with him its that simple. He also is not a good decision maker. When you get MIL in the penalty situation with 7 minutes left in the quarter, why are you shooting 3 pointers which you sucked on making all night? Why are you not pounding the paint and getting to the FT line?

We will see come Friday, but this is now ALL UP HILL!

112288

Tough game. Let’s not forget the Bucks are defending champs for a reason. Boston is up against a deeper and highly talented Bucks roster, and mostly holding their own. Last night’s 4th quarter being among the big exceptions.

When you cough up that big a 4th quarter lead, there’s plenty of blame to share. You can start with Williams and White, then work backwards alphabetically through nearly every Celtic that took the floor.

The Celtics are capable of bouncing back on the road. The key may partly be to keep the rotation tight. We’re particularly vulnerable in the front court if RW3 is out again or slowed. Other than Horford, we have no other bigs that can compete with the Milwaukee front court.

Ime has shown he can excel at game planning and in-game adjustment, even with a limited roster. Ime’s leadership, and the strength of Tatum, Brown, Smart and a rejuvenated Horford, might still even things up on Friday. We’re not done yet.

Greatest epic disasters of all time:

Titanic sinking

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Hindenberg up in flames -"Oh the humanity!"

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May 11, 2022 - Celtics give away 14 point 4th Q lead

Hi,
Let me add to the previous posts: in the end, Celtics shite their pants and gift the game to Bucks.

AK

Whose job was it to box out Portis on a missed frito?  A key mental failure that cost us the game.  You should NEVER give up an offensive rebound and putback off a missed frito.  Never.

17 offensive rebounds for them, 5 for us. That is about as weak as you can get. You all know how I feel about offensive rebounding. This turns my stomach like a roast pig on a spit (that's for you, Jeb).

ISO ball in the 4th.  I don't know if Ime called for that, I doubt it, but if he didn't then he needs to call some people out in the locker room for doing it. If he did call for it then he needs to get called out.

Wide open 3s by Giannis and Holiday.  Wide.  Open.  If Giannis is at the arc then why are we packing the paint?

Awful.  This game, and likely the series, was ours.


Bob


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