Celtics Stumble in Milwaukee, Drop Game 3 to Bucks
May 7, 2022
After a long layoff, both teams started a little slow on Saturday afternoon in Milwaukee. The hot shooting that helped carry the Celtics to a game two victory was nowhere to be found, and their superstar Jayson Tatum had one of the worst performances of his career. The Celtics maintained their physical defense and were able to find enough scoring to hold a 50-46 halftime lead. But the Bucks absolutely dominated the third quarter, and held a 13 point lead with under 10 minutes to play in the game. Boston battled back, showing great resilience, and even took a lead at one point with just over a minute left. But the Bucks hit a couple of big shots down the stretch, and the Celtics’ last second tip-in was ultimately just after the buzzer, allowing the Bucks to escape with a 103-101 win to take the lead in the series 2-1.
The Celtics got away from a lot of the things that brought them success in game two, chiefly the repeated driving and kicking actions. Ime Udoka praised the team after game two for driving, kicking, and relocating. There simply wasn’t enough of that in game three. The ball wasn’t swinging around as crisply, nor as much, and the result was a lack of good shots. After shooting 20/43 as a team from deep in game two, the Celts shot just 9/33 in game three, and the wide open looks off of penetrating and kicking were few and far between. Boston was able to generate more points in the paint and in transition, plus added 28 points from the free throw line, but it wasn’t enough.
Part of the reason it wasn’t enough was the play of Jayson Tatum. Tatum was uncharacteristically bad, scoring just 10 points on 4/19 shooting on 0/6 threes, and drew only 3 free throws. Aside from the off-shooting, a lot of bad habits popped up. Tatum was indecisive on the pick and roll, and his passing overall was not as sharp as it has been. His aggression and engagement even seemed a bit off as he finished with only one rebound and three assists. He said a wrist injury was bothering him after the game, and he did take a hard fall after finishing a transition dunk with some contact from Giannis. But Tatum just seemed off, and wasn’t getting to his spots. He continued to overdrive, and the presence of Lopez and Giannis in the paint are definitely affecting him. He also appeared to be getting frustrated with the calls, and felt he should have been at the free throw line more. Again it was an untimely off night for Tatum, and he will need to bounce back in a big way if the Celtics are going to get back into this series.
Despite the poor play from Tatum, the Celtics showed a lot of resolve - especially in the fourth quarter - and almost pulled this one out, largely thanks to incredible contributions from Al Horford and Jaylen Brown. Horford was the Celtics best player for much of the night on both ends, and finished with 22, 16, and 5 plus two big blocks. Brown was also great, and he took over at times in the fourth to lead the comeback. He scored 27 and added 12 rebounds and 4 assists. He also didn’t have a great shooting night, but was relentless getting to the basket, finishing from inside or getting to the free throw line. The Celtics also got a key contribution from Derrick White off the bench, who raised his game and added a huge 14 points, including hitting 2/3 from three point land, and 6/8 on free throws.
Unfortunately for the Celtics, they were not able to contain Antetonkounmpo the way they did in Boston. The Greek Freak imposed his will in this one, with the refs letting him set the tone physically. He put up a monster 42/12/8 with 2 blocks and 2 steals, and shot a much more efficient 16/30 from the floor. Jrue Holiday chipped in 25 points, but did so on just 11/30 shooting. Beyond that the Celtics were able to limit the Bucks and their role players. The defense remains very strong, but this time Giannis was up to the challenge, matching strength with strength, and reminding the world why he is the reigning finals MVP, and the best basketball player on the planet.
The other big story in this game was the officiating and the hectic final sequence. Overall I thought the officials were consistently inconsistent for both teams. The Celtics certainly got more calls, as evidenced by the 34 - 17 edge in free throw attempts, including the final 17 attempts of the game. But the refs missed timely calls especially for the Celtics and they allowed Giannis to create a level of contact and physicality that hadn’t been seen in this series. There were clearly a lot of missed or bad calls, maybe more against the Celtics than not and certainly in big time moments, but the referees were not the reason the Celtics lost this game. They simply didn’t play well enough, and completely collapsed in the third quarter. You can’t lose a quarter by 17 points against a team as good as the Bucks and expect to win that game. And you can’t expect to get every call on the road. You definitely can’t expect to get a favorable whistle against Giannis in his own building. Bad calls or not, this game was there for the taking and the Celtics didn’t capitalize.
Now as for the final play, there was a lot to digest. Boston was down three when Jaylen Brown ran a dribble hand off for Marcus Smart who immediately curled into a three point jump shot and was fouled by Jrue Holiday with 4 seconds remaining. The problem for Boston, is that it was ruled a foul on the floor and not on the attempt, so Smart only received two free throw attempts. This was a bang-bang play and a tight call. Smart’s feet were not facing the basket, but he had already left the floor and started his shooting motion. It probably should have been a shooting foul, but it’s hard to complain too much about that one, especially given the league’s emphasis on eliminating the sweep or the rip through (although I do NOT think that’s what Smart was doing on this particular play). Once the dust settled, Smart made the first free throw, then expertly missed the second one off glass and front iron, while crashing into the lane to get his own rebound. As Smart rebounded the miss he was pulled down by Bobby Portis, but there was no whistle, resulting in a wild put back attempt that rimmed out. Rob Williams was able to bat the ball off the backboard, then Horford did the same, before finally tipping in his own miss. But tragically, the tip took place as the red light went on and the buzzer sounded. Horford released the ball milliseconds late, and the basket was waved off. The Bucks held on to win by two, and now lead the series 2 games to 1.
It’s a tough pill to swallow but it’s not a death blow. Boston needs to bounce back Monday night and right the ship. If they don’t, they’ll be facing a nearly insurmountable 3-1 deficit, but if they can get back on track, they’ll head home with the series tied at 2, and two of the final three games taking place in TD Garden. I’m not pleased to be trailing in the series by any means, but I’m encouraged by the fact that Giannis erupted, Tatum was abysmal, and the Bucks still barely squeaked this on out in their own building. Tatum and the Celtics can play a hell of a lot better, and they will need to. But if they can get back to Celtics basketball, they should be able to even things up and turn this into a best of three series.
Ben Handler