MILWAUKEE — After getting dunked on twice by Giannis Antetokounmpo earlier within the evening – at one level the Bucks star picked up a technical foul for taunting – Al Horford got here again with one thing that had some additional sauce on it.
“Something switched with me,” the usually calm Horford mentioned of the taunt.
So as a part of a rampaging fourth quarter, fairly presumably his greatest as a Celtic, Horford dunked over the Bucks star, drew the foul, picked up a Flagrant 1 foul within the course of with an elbow to his opponent’s throat, and made his personal free throw for an 81-81 tie with 9:51 left.
Horford preceded to the free throw line whereas his shot to Anteetokounmpo’s throat was being video reviewed, with a double fist pump to the group. And on an evening when Jayson Tatum didn’t warmth up till late, Horford took the scoring lead, amongst different issues taking pictures 5-for-7 from 3-point vary.
It was sufficient to beat one other onslaught (34 factors, 18 rebounds) by Antetokounmpo.
Horford and Tatum every completed with 30 factors on an evening when the Celtics wanted each drop of their 116-108 Game 4 win, night the NBA Eastern Conference semifinals sequence at 2-2. Game 5 is at 7 p.m. Wednesday at TD Garden.
“It helped everybody. (Jaylen Brown) with the foul trouble, Jayson got it going late, but with Al we know we can give him a certain shot every time,” mentioned Ime Udoka. “We’ve told him to be extremely aggressive, 5-for-7 tonight, he’s got nine threes up in this series, so he can get those looks whenever. It’s good to have that outlet out there, and then they start to close out on him a little differently the way they close out on Grant, and then he starts to get downhill and getting other guys shots. We like to hide him in certain areas on the court, spread out Lopez some. He’s going to come out and help on penetration and Al is getting those wide open looks in the corner.”
Not to say the occasional game-changing dunk.
“I think it did,” Udoka mentioned of whether or not Horford’s dunk modified the sport. “I didn’t see the follow through on what he did, but it sounded like he cracked him pretty good, energied the group. He’s been great all year, but we really needed him to step up with guys being out. He took that on his shoulders. They guard him a certain way, he’s able to attack, love the aggressiveness and extra.”
The Celtics had been capable of come again from an 11-point third quarter deficit – reduce it to seven factors by the beginning of the fourth – and on an evening when their offense was as soon as once more caught in a decrease gear, that was sufficient of an indication of progress.
“Playoffs are emotional, intense, tonight things weren’t going our way. Smart kept telling us in the huddle to stay with it. Marcus was instrumental,” mentioned Horford. “There’s not a lot to say. It’s type of contagious, motivates everybody, and yeah, simply need to maintain it going.
“(Smart) showed us tonight why he’s the Defensive Player of the Year, guarding Giannis the way he did. I think that was the difference.”
Tatum’s drive with 4:31 gave the Celtics a 100-96 lead, and following a Bucks turnover, he slashed for a three-point play and a 103-96 lead on the expense of George Hill. Antetokounmpo was known as for an offensive foul, and Tatum buried a deep 3-pointer.
The outcome was a 106-96 Celtics lead, their largest of the evening. Grayson Allen answered from downtown, chopping the margin to seven factors with 3:05 left.
Tatum got here again with a lunging, falling financial institution shot that Wesley Matthews answered with a 3-pointer, chopping the result in 108-102.
Smart muscled in for a 110-102 lead, and Jaylen Brown, fouled by Antetokounmpo, hit two free throws for a 112-102 Celtics lead with 1:27 left. Smart curled into the lane with a brief turnaround, Antetokounmpo answered on the rim, and Derrick White was deliberately fouled, hitting twice with 43.2 seconds left for a 116-106 lead.
Tatum admits that Horford helped pull him alongside, particularly coming in off a 10-point Game 3 efficiency by the Celtics star.
“I played terrible Game 3 and we still almost had a chance to win,” mentioned Tatum. “I used to be desperate to get again, simply eager to play higher at each ends of the ground. I used to be actually longing for this recreation to get going.
“Al’s been great for the team and great for me. I remember coming in my rookie year and seeing Al Horford. It was great to see somebody take care of their body and be the ultimate professional, the ultimate teammate. Very lucky and fortunate to call Al a teammate.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com