Boston, May 16 (BUS): In the fog of the Celtics’ Game 5 loss to Milwaukee that knocked his team down a 3-2 hole, Boston coach Aime Odoka made a prediction.
“It’ll make it even sweeter when we go back,” he said.
After two wins, the Celtics turned their coach’s prophecy into reality, according to the Associated Press.
Grant Williams scored 27 points and scored seven three-pointers, Jason Tatum added 23 and Boston set a 7-game record with 22 three-pointers to defeat the NBA champion Bucks 109-81 Sunday in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The Celtics will meet top-seeded Miami starting Tuesday in the rematch of the 2020 Eastern Finals. The Heat beat the Celtics in six games in that series at Walt Disney World.
Tatum said his team embraced the moments they encountered in their “backs against the wall” when they had to win their last two games after collapsing late in their previous home game.
“As much as it pains me to lose my fifth game, I was really looking forward to that challenge,” Tatum said. “I believe in myself, I believe in this team. I expected to play the way I did and to respond the way we did.”
The Celtics trailed early in the seventh game before outplaying the Bucks 61-38 in the second half to claim the victory. Boston used a massive 54-point advantage from behind the arc to improve to 25-9 in the decisive seventh games.
The dollars are now 3-9. They went 4 for 33 (12.1%) from the 3-point streak. This is the second worst 3-point playoff percentage point ever (at least 30 attempts).
Williams was shy early on, missing 5 of his first 7 3-point attempts. It was a pep talk he got from Jaylen Brown during a hiatus after Williams passed an open shot that changed his way of thinking.
“For me, it was like they’re cheering him on, and I might as well take advantage of it,” Williams said. “Each one over time became more comfortable.”
Williams finished 7 to 18 behind the arc. The Celtics were 22 to 55.
Help silence another relentless night from Bucks star Giannis Antikonmo, who scored 25 points, 20 rebounds and nine assists. But he was only 3 of 11 in the paint in the second half, including 1 for 6 in the fourth quarter.
“The shots I usually take weren’t there. This is basketball. Sometimes you win,” Antetokounmo said. Sometimes you lose. There is a winner. There is a loser. You just have to live with it.”
Junior Holiday added 21 points and eight assists. Brooke Lopez finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Boston started the second half at 11-4 to open a 59-47 lead.
The score was 63-53 when Tatum went to the bench after the whistle of his fourth foul. But the Celtics recovered without him, beating the Bucks 16-11 the rest of the quarter to take the 79-64 lead to fourth.
Odoka said he was mostly able to maintain tunnel vision throughout his first season as head coach, but said he allowed himself to enjoy the hype of the TD Garden crowd in the final seconds.
He said being able to get Game 7 at home is important. The Celtics won on the final day of the regular season to win that game when the Bucks rested their regulars and lost Cleveland 133-115.
“That’s what we played for, why we played the season, to get an advantage at home in the seventh game,” Odoka said. “If you believe in the basketball gods, these things matter.”
Brown said their coach was the catalyst for putting them in the position.
“We didn’t want it to end. We didn’t beat all the things we did during the regular season so that would be the case… at the end of the day we wanted to go out, leave everything there. I think we did.”
Hint
Bucks: There was a moment of silence before the game for the victims of last week’s mass shootings in Milwaukee and Buffalo. … F Khris Middleton missed his 10th game in a row with a medial collateral ligament injury in his left knee. …Milwaukee missed their last 11 3-point attempts in the first half.
Celtics: They got 9 of 22 from a 3-point streak in the first half. …Patriots owner Robert Kraft sat courtside, alongside Patriots quarterback Mac Jones and receiver Kendrick Bourne.
no williams
Celtics’ player Robert Williams III was available to play after missing three games in a row with soreness and a bony bruise in his surgically repaired left knee. But he did not play.