Al Horford had 16 fourth quarter points, and Jayson Tatum had 12 on Monday night as the Boston Celtics outscored the Milwaukee Bucks 43-28 in the final period to help even the best of seven Eastern Conference Semifinal Playoff series at 2-2 with a 116-108 Game 4 victory at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Milwaukee got off to a strong start, building a 10 point lead in the first quarter and held a 25-18 advantage through the first 12 minutes. Boston came alive in the second, tying it on a Tatum three-pointer and taking their first lead on a three-pointer by Horford at 34-33 with 6:41 left in the first half. The C’s would lead by as many as three, before the Bucks scored six of the final eight points of the period to take a 48-47 lead at the halftime break.
It looked like Milwaukee, as they had done in a Game 3 victory on Saturday, would pull away in the third quarter. Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 13 in the 12 minutes of action, as the Bucks increased their lead to as many as 11 and 80-73 headed to the fourth. After Boston had fought back to take a three point lead on another three-pointer from Horford with 8:08 left, Antetokounmpo gave his team their final lead just over two minutes later with a layup at 94-92. But it was Horford again from deep, his fifth from long range on the night, that gave the green the lead for good on their next possession. The big man was huge for the Celtics, including a poster sized dunk over Antetokounmpo earlier in the period that had tied the game. Tatum also came up clutch, and his three-pointer over George Hill with 3:33 left for a 10 point Boston lead all but iced the road victory to even up the series that heads back to Beantown for Game 5.
Horford and Tatum both finished with 30 points. Tatum added 13 rebounds and five assists, while Horford had eight rebounds, three assists, and a blocked shot. Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart had 18 points each, with Smart dishing out eight assists. Derrick White also got into double figures off the bench with 11 points, four rebounds, and three assists. Antetokounmpo led all scorers with 34 points, 18 rebounds, and five assists. Brook Lopez had 17 points and seven rebounds, while Jrue Holiday would chip in 16 points, seven rebounds, nine assists, and three steals. Horford, 35, became the oldest Celtics player in franchise history to score 30 in a playoff game since John Havlicek did so 45 years ago at age 37. It was also a career playoff high for him. He didn’t score more than 21 points in a regular season game this season, and now has gone for 22 in Game 3 and 30 in Game 4. Game 5 is Wednesday night at TD Garden with tipoff scheduled for 7 p.m.
