BSJ Game 3 Report: Bucks 103, Celtics 101 - Rough Tatum night costs Celtics chance to take series lead

MILWAUKEE -- Everything you need to know about the Boston Celtics loss to the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 3, with BSJ insight and analysis. 

IN A NUTSHELL

The first half of this game was a brutal, physical, slugfest. Neither team was able to do much of anything against the other team’s defense. At one point the box score looked like this: 

The teams traded big runs in the second half, with Milwaukee building a lead as high as 14 and Boston erasing it all and taking the lead back with just over a minute to play. The Bucks broke a two-minute-long scoring drought to take the lead back, but Marcus Smart was fouled with 4.6 seconds left on what appeared to be a 3-pointer. The officials called it a sweep-through move, and awarded only two free throws, but Boston was nearly able to tip Smart’s miss on the second free throw. Al Horford’s make came just after the buzzer, and Milwaukee now leads the series 2-1.

HEADLINES

Officiating being questioned: This is my least-favorite aspect of the game because it will be one of the big headlines when the Celtics could have just played a better third quarter to win this game. However, since we’re here, there was plenty to be upset about for the Celtics. I’ll go into more detail below, but I’ll just focus on that 3-point attempt by Smart. 

You can’t get a more obvious shot attempt than that play. They called it a rip-through move, but the foul was committed before Smart could ever rip through.

“It was a foul. It was a foul. He caught the ball, he was turning into his shot, both feet set," Ime Udoka said. "You can’t say that was a sweep. You’re going into a shot. Poor call, poor no call. I saw it in person, but also just saw it on film. It’s a shot. Curling into a shot, he’s getting fouled on the way up, bad missed call."

Again, there are a million other things that Boston could have done to not be in that situation, but that was a tough one to call on the floor. 

Jayson Tatum’s very off night: He simply could never get it going. All Boston needed was three minutes of vintage Tatum to steal this win, calls or no calls. He could only manage two shot attempts in the fourth and he was 2-10 in the second half. 

“Just passing up open looks. Over-thinking it at times,” Udoka said of Tatum’s night. “First quarter, one or two dribbles too many to kind of get into the teeth of their defense. We gotta set screens and free these guys up and they can walk into a wide-open shot. But over-penetrated a little bit. Got into the crowd a little bit and started overthinking a little bit."

Still confident: The Celtics know that a seven-game series is long, and they feel pretty good about playing this poorly and still having a chance to win. 

"The message is to continue to guard the way we have, other than that third quarter, and then get our offense clicking a little bit more,” Udoka said. “Like I mentioned before the game, the paint touches are big for us and at times, we got a little stagnant going iso and post-ups a little bit. But we like to have more movement against this team that really loads up."

TURNING POINT

The Celtics went up by one with 1:49 left but didn’t score again until Smart’s first free throw at the end of the game. They had two open 3-pointers and missed both, which opened the door for Milwaukee to come down and break their own scoring drought and retake the lead. 

SECOND GUESS

Marcus Smart should have made one more pass to Jaylen Brown on his 3-pointer at the end there. At that point I know it’s tough with the clock winding down and you see one fairly open opportunity, but this pass to Brown, one of your two best players, in the corner, with no one on him, absolutely HAS to be made. 

THREE UP 

Al Horford: It’s a shame that Horford’s 22-point, 16 rebounds, 5-assist game got wasted in a loss. He hit some monster shots when the Celtics needed him to and he was Boston’s most consistent player in this game. He was also a huge part of that fourth-quarter comeback, dropping 12/5/3 while playing the whole quarter. 

Jaylen Brown: 27 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 assists on 50% shooting, but 15 points came down the stretch. He and Horford were the two catalysts of the whole comeback. 

“We had to get ourselves back going, we got some baskets in transition that helped us out a little bit, Brown said. “We had a lot of great looks tonight that didn’t go down, but we still had every opportunity to win this game in the fourth quarter. We just came up a little short.”

Derrick White: For all the flack that he took heading into this game, he had a very solid 14 points on 3-6 shooting (2-3 3pt). It might be a bigger shame that this White game was wasted than Horford’s game. 

THREE DOWN

Jayson Tatum: Rough numbers for him all around. He finished with just 10 points on 4-19 shooting (0-6 3pt), 3 assists, 3 turnovers and just 1 rebound. He did block 4 shots, so he didn’t let it impact him on the defensive end, but he simply needed to be better. 

Marcus Smart: It’s not often you see Smart as a -10 in a game they nearly won. More than anything, not finding ways to get guys the ball was his biggest downfall in this game. He finished the game with just 2 assists. 

Grant Williams: A tough shooting night (1-6 from deep) and a very angry talking-to by Udoka after Williams’ complaining to an official led to a Bucks 3-pointer on the other end. 

I’m not saying this would have changed the result of the game because a lot happens differently if he’d hustled back, but it’s a bad look for Williams to have that play on his Game 3 resume in a game they lost by 2. 

TOP PLAYS

TWO TAKES KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- The refs need to get it together. 

I don’t care if you’re sick of me reiterating this, but I hate talking about the officials THAT much. Boston missed chance after chance to win this game despite the officiating, so I will state it quite clearly that this is not why Boston lost. 

With that said…

The officiating has to be better in this series. I’m sure both sides will agree with that. And while some might say “well it was bad on both sides so it evened out,” I still would like for it to be good on both sides. For instance, here's Udoka's version of the explanation he was given an uncalled charge on Giannis Antetokounmpo. 

"Their explanation is, if they don't fall down, they don't call it. So gotta teach my guys to flop a little more," he said, which is not something you want to hear a coach say. 

Obvious goaltending calls have to be made. Antetokounmpo has now blocked two shots that should have been goaltending calls in this series. These games are coming down to the wire, and calls that are obvious that result in points like that have to be made correctly. 

Bobby Portis’ elbow that knocked Robert Williams out of the game for a short time has to be called. That's an elbow to the head. That's a priority in the NBA. That not only was a missed call, but that should have been a Flagrant 1 under today’s rules. 

The call on that Smart 3-pointer has to be a shooting foul. With just 4.6 seconds on the clock and Boston down 3, the officials need to be as aware of time and score at this point as the players. 

This is a good series. The winner of this series is probably going to the NBA Finals. I’m a big proponent of letting them play and letting some physical basketball determine the winner. The absolute last thing we need, though, is one fan base being able to point to really obvious stuff as an excuse. That will ruin what can be a really fun final three or four games.

- The Celtics do have reason to be confident

Let’s see… 

Tatum stunk, Smart wasn’t great, they gave up a monster game to Antetokounmpo, they soiled themselves for basically an entire quarter, and the officiating didn’t do them any favors … and they still nearly won the game. 

There are so many little if’s in this game that could have swung it in Boston’s favor. They have to feel good about coming out in Game 4 and playing better to regain home-court advantage. 

The Celtics still have things to refine, and the Bucks are certainly responsible for some of what’s been bothering Boston, but there is a definite answer for the Celtics in Game 4. 

It might mean my “Celtics in 6” prediction goes to Celtics in 7 because it’ll be hard to ask Boston to beat Milwaukee three games in a row, but my faith in their ability to win this series hasn’t been shaken, even after this game.