Celtics 122, Bucks 121: Nothing but heartbreak in the final second for Milwaukee
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BOSTON – In an empty arena, no one heard Jayson Tatum call glass. But he went there, falling back from an outstretched Giannis Antetokounmpo to hit an improbable three-pointer with four-tenths of a second left at TD Garden.
Nearly as improbable, Antetokounmpo had a chance to send it to overtime off an inbound lob from Jrue Holiday, as he drew a foul on Tristan Thompson. But after sinking the first attempt, the second knocked off the rim and the Bucks lost, 122-121, Wednesday night in the season opener.
“Aside from the ball going in the basket I’m not sure we could have defended Tatum much better than we did,” Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer said. “I thought Giannis did a great job individually, great contest and you know, credit to Tatum, banked in a three at the end of the clock.”
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The result had Antetokounmpo doubled over as the buzzer sounded, as it was just his second missed free throw for the game.
“Good execution, Giannis getting to a spot and putting the ball there for him, it was good look for us,” Budenholzer said of the lob attempt. “I think both possessions, even though results matter, at the end of the day the process, getting Giannis in a great defensive position, getting Giannis to the rim, I think we’ll live with both those situations.”
The Bucks had come back from a 17-point deficit to start the quarter by playing its strongest team defense of the night, but Tatum’s heroic shot was just enough.
Early in the week Antetokounmpo smiled, and joked the Bucks should pack up their bags and call it a day when asked if he had concerns over the way the team played defense over the three-game exhibition schedule. The joke – and its intent – landed. It was early for true concern but added the team will move toward its standard after more time together.
BOX SCORE: Celtics 122, Bucks 121
But for three quarters the Celtics proved Antetokounmpo right, scoring 101 points. By the end of the game, the Bucks’ new “big three” of Antetokounmpo, Holiday and Khris Middleton provided enough offense – and the Bucks made enough stops – to put the Bucks in position to win following a step-back three from Holiday with 1:10 left gave the Bucks a 120-119 lead.
The Celtics had taken a 101-84, but Antetokounmpo asserted himself in the post and behind the three-point line with 18 points while Holiday and Middleton combined for 15 as the Bucks erased that margin to tie it at 113 on a Brook Lopez putback.
Antetokounmpo went 3 for 8 from behind the arc and 6 for 8 from the free throw line to lead all scorers with 35 points. Middleton (27), Holiday (25) and Donte DiVincenzo (15) were the only other Bucks to score in double figures. Middleton added a team-high 14 rebounds.
Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 33 and Tatum added 30. Jeff Teague scored 19 off the bench while Thompson scored 12 and Daniel Theis had 10.
At times, the Bucks looked like their usual selves in closing the paint and forcing missed shots at the rim. They showed hard to the three-point line to perhaps add a beat to the shooter. They forced turnovers and rebounded to quickly push the tempo the other way for transition baskets.
They took a 46-37 lead early the second quarter playing their style. But after a Boston timeout with 7 minutes, 49 seconds to go in the first half the Celtics took it to the Bucks.
Following that stoppage, the Celtics attacked the paint and found open threes while the Bucks turned the ball over and were called for an illegal defense during a 12-2 Celtics run that saw the lead fall away.
A couple of Holiday baskets gave the Bucks a 52-51 advantage, but a lightly contested three-pointer by Brown followed by a Brown layup with no resistance at the basket led to Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer calling timeout – but the Celtics were on their way to taking a 65-59 lead at the break off two Tatum threes.
Middleton and Antetokounmpo combined for seven points to start the third to give the Bucks a 66-64 lead, but then the offense stalled again. Turnovers by Antetokounmpo and Holiday helped the Celtics to a 12-4 run that gave them a 76-70 they would only continue to build upon in the quarter.
“I think you always gotta give your opponent credit,” Budenholzer said. “Boston played at a high level tonight.
“They shot it well. I think we gotta do more things to maybe take away some of their looks. But Tatum and Jaylen Brown, they draw a lot of attention and they played well individually. Then some of their role players made a lot of shots through the first three quarters. Hopefully we got better on both Tatum and Brown in the fourth, we got better on their role players. We need to do that more in the first three quarters. But some credit to Boston for sure and we’ve got to be better defensively.”
The Bucks took a 34-31 lead after one quarter thanks to eight points from DiVincenzo, who also assisted on an Antetokounmpo bucket. The Bucks ran through a variety of lineup combinations in the quarter, including D.J. Wilson for about the final five minutes and rookie Sam Merrill in the final 1:17.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Celtics 122, Bucks 121: Nothing but heartbreak in the final second for Milwaukee