Celtics dig out of massive hole but fall to Milwaukee

The Celtics play in Milwaukee again on Friday, and depending on what Danny Ainge can engineer by Thursday’s 3 p.m. trade deadline, they may be a different-looking team.

They need help, maybe to simply reach the playoffs. But based on their climb out of a 25-point hole in Wednesday’s narrow 121-119 loss to the Bucks, the Celtics do have the offensive power to match shots with the Eastern Conference’s elite.

Kemba Walker nearly turned it around with his 23-point performance, to go along with another 24 from Jaylen Brown. Defensively, though they gave up far too many open 3-pointers, the Celtics limited Giannis Antetokounmpo to a 13-point night.

Brown’s transition drive off a Marcus Smart outlet with 4:51 left cut the Milwaukee lead to 115-107.

Smart pressured Jrue Holiday into a miss, but missed a 3-point attempt down the other end, and paid for it when Dante DiVincenzo hit from the corner for an 11-point edge.

Tatum answered from downtown off a Milwaukee flub. Smart insisted that he cleanly tied up Antetokounmpo — the Bucks star only hit the second of two free throws for a 119-110 lead — and Tatum missed from 15 feet.

DiVincenzo missed and Tatum pushed it, converting off the break, drawing the foul, hitting the free throw and cutting the Bucks lead to 119-113.

Walker buried a 3-pointer with 1:57 left, but Antetokounmpo hit from the lane. Brown hit a corner 3, cutting the Bucks lead to two points with 1:25 left.

Antetokounmpo charged into Daniel Theis, but Smart missed an open 3 attempt, Middleton also missed from deep, and Walker was blocked. Brook Lopez’s attempt at a lob was foiled by Theis.

The Celtics, trailing by two, inbounded with 2 seconds left, with Smart bouncing his pass off Antetokounmpo and out of bounds with a second left. Theis then missed from the right corner at the buzzer.

Walker’s third-quarter surge — he had 20 points by the end of it — kept the Bucks within a long reach, with a 100-86 lead. Jayson Tatum (12 points, 5-for-14), though, had yet to find a groove, and despite improved pressure, the Celtics still had trouble reaching Milwaukee’s open shooters. Antetokounmpo had only eight points after three quarters, but the Bucks star had lots of support.

Jeff Teague cut that lead to 12 on the first basket of the fourth, but Bobby Portis, of all people, answered with a corner trey.

Antetokounmpo reached double-figures with a jumper for a 15-point Milwaukee lead. The Celtics resumed whittling away, with Grant Williams stealing the ball and scoring off the break, cutting the margin to 11 points.

Four empty possessions later, Khris Middleton hit a 15-foot banker, Teague hit a 3-pointer for a 10-point margin, and Middleton came right back, again from mid-range. But Teague, now the hot Celtic, drove for the foul, two free throws and once again a 10-point gap.

Walker replaced Teague with 6:37 left, and the Bucks lead went back up to 12 points, just in time for Tatum to find Brown on the wing for a 3-pointer. But Middleton slashed in with a floater. Brown shot an air ball, and Middleton pulled up for a 115-102 Bucks lead.

Smart’s 3-pointer with 5:07 left cut the Bucks lead to 115-105, and the next time down Brown scored off the break.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3soZvlg