NBA: The Bucks take Boston and caress the classification | Sports

When Boston’s TD Garden was screaming louder, Jrue Holiday was responsible for silencing it with an anthological stopper that gave the Milwaukee Bucks victory against the Celtics (107-110) after a great game that left the current NBA champions just one step away from the Eastern final (2-3). In a memorable matchup with all the excitement and intensity of the playoffs, the Bucks turned around a game they trailed by 14 points early in the fourth quarter thanks to two key plays in the final 15 seconds: a huge basket after Bobby Portis’ offensive rebound and Jrue Holiday’s block on Marcus Smart as the Celtics searched for a game-winning shot.

The point guard not only kept the ball after blocking Smart, which gave the Bucks two free throws to get +3, but he also stole the ball again from Smart on the last play of the game. Stunned were the Celtics, who had been very balanced throughout the night, but who will have to recover against the clock from this huge moral blow and win yes or yes on Friday in Milwaukee so as not to go on vacation.

Historical NBA stats are not on their side: after a 2-2 deficit, the team that wins Game 5 ends up qualifying 82% of the time. Giannis Antetokounmpo, who in the last quarter ended up bleeding on his eyelid after a fortuitous hit, was the leader of the Bucks with 40 points and 11 rebounds, while Jrue Holiday was not only a marvel in defense, but also stood out in attack with 24 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists. Jayson Tatum (34 points and 6 rebounds) and Jaylen Brown (26 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists) were the best for some Celtics in which the Dominican Al Horford once again performed at a high level defending Antetokounmpo (8 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists).

The Warriors make a fool of themselves in Memphis

With a beating as amazing as it is incontestable, the Memphis Grizzlies, without the injured Ja Morant, passed this past morning over some ridiculous Golden State Warriors (134-95) to stay alive in this Western semifinal (2-3). Without Steve Kerr on the bench for the second game due to the coronavirus, the Warriors are still ahead and will be able to close the series on Friday back in San Francisco, but in this fifth game in Memphis they gave an unfortunate and unbecoming image of one of the greats. contenders for the ring

It is enough to look at the statistics of the encounter to understand the magnitude of the shipwreck. The Grizzlies scored 77 points in the first half, led by 27 points at halftime and in the third quarter came to dominate the scoreboard by a brutal difference of 55 points. The record for the biggest difference at the end of an NBA playoff game is 58 points, and it seemed that if they hadn’t relaxed when victory was already on the cards, the Grizzlies could easily have beaten that mark.

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