BSJ Game Report: Bucks 110, Celtics 107 - C's fall apart down the stretch, now face elimination

Everything you need to know about the Boston Celtics loss to the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 4, with BSJ insight and analysis. 

IN A NUTSHELL

Things unfolded about as expected for most of the game with Milwaukee landing the early punches and Boston answering. They answered in a big way in the second quarter, forcing 5 turnovers in 7 possessions to build a double-digit lead. The Celtics built a 14-point lead early in the fourth quarter, and it looked like the game was going to hold to form. 

Except it didn’t. 

Boston was outscored 31-14 from there. Milwaukee got 7 offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter, including Bobby Portis’ to put in the go-ahead bucket, and seal Boston’s collapse. 

Box Score 

HEADLINES

What a collapse: It’s hard to really grasp how the Celtics melted down in that fourth quarter. 

“Offensive rebounds really. The story of the game,’ Ime Udoka said. “They had 17 for 20 second-chance points and the large majority of those came in the second half.”

The Bucks had 7 offensive rebounds in the final 7:03 of the game. 

Bucks didn’t run out of gas this time: One of the big storylines coming out of the last two games especially was how much Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday had to do on their own, and how Boston was taking advantage of their fatigue to pull away late. That did not happen in this game. 

“We were putting them in the same actions, defending him at the same level,” Udoka said. “Just felt like we didn't make those kind of game-clinching plays when we had the chance to kind of put our foot on the gas and pull away a little bit. We always gave them hope with the rebounds, easy baskets kept them in it. So anytime you got life, you get a little more energy to stay in the game instead of getting kind of depleted energy-wise and putting your head down.”

Fourth quarter fade: The Celtics had plenty of chances to win, but they didn’t do most of the things they needed to do to pull away in this game. 

This is not winning basketball. Winners close these games out. 

Do or die Friday: Udoka faces the first elimination game of his career. Let’s see what he comes up with. 

TURNING POINT

Antetokounmpo hit a 3-pointer with 1:40 left after an Al Horford putback dunk. The dunk put Boston up 6 and the arena was rocking, but the 3 was part of an 11-2 close to the game for Milwaukee. 

FOUR UP 

Jaylen Brown: Brown’s 16 points in the third were part of Boston actually adding to their halftime lead. He put Boston in position to make their early fourth-quarter run, but he also didn’t score in the final quarter. 

“I would have liked to play a couple more minutes and keep it rolling, but we went a different direction and we still had the opportunity to win tonight. And we lost.”

Jayson Tatum: I’m not thrilled with Tatum’s game, especially with him missing box outs down the stretch. He settled for jumpers on plays where he could have attacked and drawn fouls late in the quarter. But he also hit some huge shots that should have salted the game away earlier in the fourth. 

Derrick White: White was good once again, hitting 4 of 5 shots, dishing 6 assists and grabbing 5 rebounds. He also blocked two shots. He got a lot of Grant Williams’ minutes late in the game. 

Daniel Theis: He found seams and got into position to get passes and finish at the rim. He only played 11 minutes, but he was 5-5 from the field (1-1 3pt). You can argue that maybe he should have played some more down the stretch, but Milwaukee threw a lot of shooters out there and that probably wouldn’t have been a great matchup. 

TWO DOWN

Marcus Smart: He was on his way to a great game and then he undid a lot of it with a poor close to the fourth quarter. He drove baseline thinking he was going to catch Milwaukee sleeping and got blocked instead of running the play for one of Boston’s closers.

“The play was actually ... JT was supposed to come up and get it, but everybody was just standing around and we had no timeouts, and there was a five-second count on the way,” Smart said. “So I just got open and tried to make a play. Jrue did a good job of helping. That’s it. Made a good play.”

Smart couldn't secure the rebound after Antetokounmpo’s missed free throw, and then on the drive at the end of the game, he pushed it too hard and missed a wide open Tatum on the right side. 

Grant Williams: After two very good games that sparked a LOT of conversation about trying to lock him up to an extension this summer before his value shot through the roof, Williams has not been great. He started the series 8-13 from 3, and has gone 2-13 since then. Now, 10-23 is 43.4% shooting, which is great. But that needs to be a consistent 43.4%, not a feast-or-famine situation. 

TOP PLAYS

TWO TAKES KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- What a bad time for an old storyline to reemerge

The Celtics getting away from what works to stop moving the ball while making crucial and lazy defensive mistakes is what the old Celtics used to do. In a game where the 2022 version of the team showed up in the second quarter, the 2021 C’s crashed the party over the final 10 minutes. 

You name the mistake, Boston made it. If they really want to be champions, they need to execute better down the stretch. 

This really could have been a closeout game. Boston missed real chances to win Game 3 and they blew a 14-point, fourth-quarter lead in this one. They had an opportunity to get another few days rest and instead they head to Milwaukee with their season on the line. 

- The Celtics are an incredibly confident bunch 

I found it kind of odd how Udoka, Smart, and Tatum approached their postgame media availability. All three exuded a sort of “we’ll just go get the next one” mentality. 

“I mean I could come up here and pout and be sad and I’m sure there would be a big story about how we’re defeated and I don’t believe in us,” Tatum said.  Or I could come in like, you can’t change what happened. It stings for sure, but it’s 3-2 and it’s the first to four. There’s no sense in being sad or putting your head down because that’s not going to do anything for next game. Always be optimistic and believe in yourself, believe in your group that we can win the game on Friday.”

Fair enough. 

I’m not passing judgment on them either way. If anything, you want to have that confidence heading into an elimination game. Like I said earlier, this easily could have been Celtics in five, and that feeling could be fueling their confidence. At the same time, it’s actually 3-2, and the need to go back to Fiserv Forum and play their best game or else we’re moving into offseason mode in a hurry.