2 seed is theirs. Jrue Holiday led all players with 40 points and hit some massive 3-point shots late in the game, including one that gave Milwaukee a 127-125 lead with 25 seconds remaining in OT. Frankly the deck seemed stacked too high against Tatum and his team, particularly given Bostons meltdown in the closing minutes of Game 5. pic.twitter.com/tg1XByX2sq, wow jrue holiday comes out of nowhere to block smart and then throws the ball off him, BIG BUCKET BY BOBBY!! The Fiserv Forum crowd, nervous and quiet for much of the middle two quarters, was alive. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. At this rate, it would be disappointing if they didnt at least reach the championship series. The Nuggets have all the ingredients to make a deep run. Barton joins the Raptors after he was waived by the Wizards on Feb. 21. Its no wonder the game had massive playoff-seeding implications for both teams, and the 127-121 Bucks victory moved them into the No. Rotations shorten come playoff time. In fact, Im nervous about putting them this low. The Nets and Cavs play Friday night with the Nets one game back in the standings, and if Brooklyn wins that game, it will also secure the season tiebreaker over Cleveland via a 3-1 head-to-head advantage. With 14.2 seconds remaining, Giannis went to the line with the Bucks trailing by two. But the Bucks were able to crash the glass and create extra possessions. At some point, it would be nice to see this group put together a sustained run of success. After the defending champs dispatched the Chicago Bulls last night, the Eastern Conference Semifinals is set between Milwaukee and Boston. George Hill then punctuated the win with a steal and layup with 23 seconds left. 3 in the standings -- or No. Four teams have a chance to punch their ticket to the postseason on an 11-game Wednesday night. Boston has two games remaining -- Thursday in Milwaukee and Sunday in Memphis -- while the Bucks (vs. Celtics, at Detroit, at Cleveland) and 76ers (at Toronto, vs. Indiana, vs. Detroit) each have three. 7 could also have some impact on the Bucks-Celtics-Sixers logjam detailed at the top. Here are four takeaways from Celtics-Bucks. The Celtics' elite defense has stifled the Bucks all series, and was doing so once again in the fourth quarter -- at least on the initial shot. But possible. The Bucks clinched the head-to-head tiebreaker with Philadelphia on Tuesday (winning the season series 2-1), they are tied with Miami (2-2) and currently trail Boston (1-2) with one final. 2 seed with their win over Boston on Thursday night, and now lead the No. The Bucks and Sixers would finish with the same superior record to the Celtics, but the Bucks own the tiebreaker. With the Boston Celtics past the customary if not factual midpoint of the season after the annual All-Star Week festivities, who among the team's . "We want to compete. The Celtics went on a 19-8 run over the first 4:20 to flip a 12-point deficit to a 78-77 lead thanks to a Theis three-pointer. As of Feb. 27, the Raptors have a 45 percent chance of making the 2023 NBA Playoffs, according to FiveThirtyEight's projections. 10:15 pm ET, at Die trying: Celtics three-point shooting hits season low against Knicks, Ice cold in New York: Takeaways from Celtics-Knicks. Even more impressive, Holiday recovered the loose ball and threw it off Smart. 1 seed and, as a result, likely play only one of the Bucks or Philadelphia 76ers in the playoffs. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. His outside shooting, movement without the basketball and ability to play multiple positions have all proven valuable for the C's. Bos has one game left at Memphis; Philly plays Ind/Det. Falling into the three-seed wouldn't be the worst thing to happen to Boston. Thats something we talked about, Tatum said. Tatum scores 42, carries Celtics past Bucks 117-103 Jayson Tatum scored 16 of his 42 points in the fourth quarter and the Boston Celtics beat the Milwaukee Bucks 117-103 on Monday night. Milwaukees best offense in the series has come in transition. Rather, it was that they resorted to the methodical and predictable late-game offense that plagued them early in the season. Ime Udoka on Celtics confidence: Were a basketball team, not a track team. Boston also has to travel to Memphis to face the No. Boston clinched home court advantage in this second round series when the Celtics won in Memphis with a full complement of players whereas the Bucks sat most of their rotation players on the final day of the regular season. They're going to have to beat good teams to get to where they ultimately want to go. 8 seed. So this is just a quick breakdown of each scenario Celtics fans can prepare for. I would have liked to see theGrizzliestake a bigger swing at the trade deadline than Luke Kennard, a shooter who doesnt really shoot enough. Updated probabilities via @bball_ref: pic.twitter.com/Qv7Q1VZGKg. And there is still much to be decided. The 76ers currently sit in fourth with an identical 49-30 record as the Bucks, who own the tiebreaker over Philly. That brings us to the four-team race happening at the top of the Eastern Conference standings as Miami, Milwaukee, Boston and Philadelphia are currently separated by just 1.5 games with less than two weeks remaining in the regular season. Then Antetokounmpo drained a 3-pointer from 28 feet to make it 85-81 and it was on. Hes set to return to injury soon, and hell be joining a Klay Thompson who looks all the way back on the offensive side of the ball. May 15, 2022 Gambling problem? Again, for this tiebreaker to even come up, Milwaukee has to lose to Cleveland, so next it becomes about record against playoff teams in the East. If the Bucks win against Cleveland (tipoff is at 3:30 p.m.), they finish second in the East. In the West, it's between Utah and Denver. Which takes if to the fourth tiebreaker: record vs. Eastern Conference playoff teams, which Boston has clinched at 20-13 with the best Milwaukee can do being 18-15. Giannis Antetokounmpo looked to help the Bucks advance, but a superstar performance from Jayson Tatum forced Game 7. 12/13 . Heres the kicker: It can mess up even the team trying to draw those fouls. Cleveland is locked into the play-in tournament, but the Cavaliers may still have something to play for as they will want to avoid falling to the No. Marcus Smart was named Defensive Player of the Year this season, becoming the first guard to win the award since Gary Payton in 1996. East teams jockeying for position, matchups. The Sixers have to finish a game ahead of the Bucks because Milwaukee owns the tiebreaker via its 2-1 head-to-head advantage over the Sixers. Until then, Im a little cooler on them than many of my colleagues. Should Milwaukee and Boston finish tied in the conference, the next tiebreaker is record against playoff opponents. 10:23 pm ET, at Then it would be down to Milwaukee and Boston as division winners, which sends it back to a straight two-team tiebreaker. The Bucks failed to cover as 2.5-point underdogs in a 118-100 loss at the Brooklyn Nets Friday. Khris Middleton is still not playing his normal minutes load. Back then, my highly scientific (a.k.a. If the Celtics beat Chicago and the Raptors can win at least two of their last three, Toronto will land in the 4-5 matchup with the Bulls slotted at No. I spoke to a specialist; youre going to have pain playing with it no matter what," Hill said. Visit ESPN for the game summary of the Boston Celtics vs. Milwaukee Bucks NBA basketball game on December 25, 2021. . 2 seed is to win their final two (vs. Indiana and vs. Detroit) and have the Bucks lose their final two. 4 seed, they would avoid the Nets in the opening round, but they would only guarantee themselves home-court advantage for the opening round. Boston then inched a half-game ahead of the. DraftKings Sportsbook has the Bucks favored by 6.5 points at home over the Celtics, priced at -265 on the moneyline. If the Bucks win their final two games (at Detroit and at Cleveland), they'll be the No. Individually, there are incredibly close races for Kia Most Valuable Player, Kia Rookie of the Year and the league scoring title that are being tracked on a daily basis. Remaining strength of schedule: .544. And after a so-so early start to the season (by his standards), Embiid has picked up his play considerably on the defensive end of the floor the last few months. 1 pick Cade Cunningham. Beautiful.. Celtics:at Chicago, at Milwaukee, at Memphis, Bucks:vs. Celtics, at Detroit, at Cleveland, Sixers:at Toronto, vs. Indiana, vs. Detroit. Boston has two games remaining -- Thursday in Milwaukee and Sunday in Memphis . Much has changed since we last ranked NBA title contenders headed into the new year. And time is running out for this team to properly gel before a deep run. Budenholzer said there is no minutes restriction on Hill. Outside keeping everyone healthy, the Celtics' goal should remain the same: Prioritize beating the Bulls and Bucks to earn the No. So were going to listen to whatever Bud wants us to do and were going to go out there and compete.. The #1 Boston Celtics fan forum weighs in. Each team has two remaining games. The Sixers also need to finish a game ahead of Boston to win the No. If the Bucks. 5 seed. 2004-2023 CBS Interactive. A daily roundup of Boston Celtics news from Celtics Blog, By submitting your email, you agree to our, Jayson Tatum ejected in ugly Celtics loss to Knicks: I just told him this was probably the best officiated game Ive been a part of. Well spend a lot of time talking about it, Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer said of the team strategy regarding their last two games. He's given the Celtics a little of everything with Horford and Williams missing some games during the last week. ET on Thursday, April 7. If they lose to the Bucks on Thursday, though, Milwaukee will own the tiebreaker and likely drop Boston to No. But the Bucks own the head-to-head tiebreaker with the 76ers. Of course, you don't make a double-digit comeback in the fourth quarter without some luck. Miss those and we're potentially talking about a 20-point Celtics win. Home court advantage is very important in the NBA playoffs, and the Celtics definitely benefited from it last season when they hosted the Bucks in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals at TD Garden and won. Barton joins the Raptors after he was waived by the Wizards on Feb. 21. First to the Floor: are the Knicks a bad matchup? The other two: Shaquille ONeal and Wilt Chamberlain. Kawhi Leonard is playing more and more like the player who was dominant in both the 2019 and 2021 playoffs, the latter of which had solid title potential until he got hurt. Maybe its possible this offseason if Irving sticks around. Muscala has been better than expected early in his Boston tenure. He started 61 games, made 40% of his 3-pointers, irritated opponents with his defense and reputation, and was gifted a two-year, $20 million contract extension before he even played a real game for the Bucks. All Rights Reserved. Even the situation last year, I think a lot of people questioned about what we were going to do and how we were going to handle the situation. 7. Here are the remaining schedules for the Celtics, Bucks and Sixers with all three teams sitting at 49-30. Both would also be divisional champions in a scenario where the teams tie, so it's. Joel Embiid recovers from a slow start to finish with 29 points, but Giannis Antetokounmpo erupts for 40 to lead Milwaukee past the 76ers. T Bobby Portis was just 1 of the many heroes who step up for Milwaukee down the stretch as it rallies from 14 down in the 4th. 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