The Milwaukee Bucks used a very balanced scoring effort Wednesday night putting seven players in double figures, and dispatched the Boston Celtics 116-91 in game five of an Eastern Conference semifinal series at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After a dominant Boston game one win, Milwaukee won four straight to win the series 4-1.
Milwaukee quickly scored the first eight points of the game as from the get go it looked like a very uninspired Boston team. The Bucks led by as many as 11 at 19-8, before Marcus Morris did tie the game late in the quarter with a three pointer part of an 11-0 run at 19-19. Milwaukee led 22-19 after the first quarter. The hosts pushed the lead to 16 late in the second quarter, before a late Gordon Hayward three pointer made it a 13 point game at the half.
The Bucks pushed it to as many as 18 late in the third quarter and headed into the fourth, while the Celtics only got as close as nine in the 12 minutes. Boston never closed closer than 18 the rest of the way, and Milwaukees 27 point margin of victory was the largest lead of the night as the top seed marches off to the Eastern Conference Finals having only being beaten once this postseason thus far (8-1).
Giannis Antenkoumpo led Milwaukee by filling up the stat sheet with 20 points, eight rebounds, eight assists, two steals, and two blocks. Khris Middleton had 19 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. Eric Bledsoe had 18 points and six rebounds. George Hill had 16 points. Rounding out double digit scoring for the Bucks was Nikola Mirotic, Ersan Ilyasova, and Malcolm Brogdon with 10 points each. Boston was able to put four players in double figures led by Kyrie Irving with 15 points. Jayson Tatum and Morris had 14 points a piece, with Tatum adding six rebounds, and Morris getting the double double with 11 boards. Jaylen Brown chipped in 12 points. Milwaukee shot 45% from the floor and knocked down 15 shots from three point range. Boston only shot 31% and was 7-39 from downtown. In the four straight losses leading scorer Irving shot the ball at a 30% clip for the Celtics (25-83). Boston finishes the year with a final record of 54-37.
Milwaukee now has a record of 68-23, and will await their opponent for the Eastern Conference Finals as currently the Toronto Raptors lead the series over the Philadelphia 76ers 3-2.
