The G League Ignite guard has been toward the top of several draft boards ahead of the 2023 Draft. Boston has by far the hardest schedule, although the Grizzlies are locked into the Western Conference's No. Thats how the two 51-31 teams wound up seeded second and third, respectively, with the Bucks getting their preferred first-round clash with Chicago while the Celtics had to face Brooklyn (a presumably tougher foe at the time). Their remaining opponents have a combined win percentage of .509, with five of their final six games coming against opponents over .500, with the only exception coming in the regular-season finale against Orlando. The defending champion Milwaukee Bucks entered the game with a sparkling 77.7% winning percentage when their Big Three of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday play together. Its unstoppable.) After the defending champs dispatched the Chicago Bulls last night, the Eastern Conference Semifinals is set between Milwaukee and Boston. Griffin gave a solid all-around effort versus the Bucks with 15 points, six assists, six rebounds, one steal, one block and two charges drawn in 24 minutes of action. The Chicago Bulls (28-34) play against the Toronto Raptors (31-32) at Scotiabank Arena Live Stream: fuboTV (Watch for free) NBA League Pass: The most live games plus NBA TV. Were not running from people. pic.twitter.com/BF5w5x2ma3. The G League Ignite guard has been toward the top of several draft boards ahead of the 2023 Draft. 2004-2023 CBS Interactive. From the words and tone of the participants late Friday night, it sounded as if the Celtics were glad to play the clincher at home, while the more seasoned Bucks showed their bring it on swagger. The Sixers have three games against teams over .500 (Charlotte, Cleveland and Toronto) and four games against teams not only under .500 but all under .400 as they face Detroit and Indiana twice. 8 seed from Brooklyn, as the Nets would be guaranteed to play the No. Nickel column:Here's why Giannis Antetokounmpo should be the NBA's Most Improved Player, More:As the NBA playoffs approach, the Milwaukee Bucks are tightening their rotation with four key players off the bench. Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. Free trial Game Time: 7 9:27 pm ET, at 6-keys: media/spln/nba/reg/free/stories_live-blog, By pressing sign up, I confirm that I have read and agree to the. section: | slug: bucks-vs-celtics-score-takeaways-milwaukee-pulls-off-fourth-quarter-comeback-to-steal-game-5-against-boston | sport: basketball | route: live_blog_single | The C's scored the first five points of overtime to take a 121-116 lead, but the Bucks finished the period on a 15-4 run to escape with a 131-125 victory. But it all goes back to whether or not teams want the two-seed. Boston then inched a half-game ahead of the. Philadelphia 76ers. The Toronto Raptors haven't left themselves any wiggle room. A win at home over Boston tonight would see the two teams level on overall record, but there are a plethora of tiebreaker scenarios up in the air before the season comes to an end. The NBA let me know it is all teams in the playoffs or play-in. Tip-off is set for 1:30 pm Central. 9:16 am ET. CLUTCH HAUSER HITS THE 3 pic.twitter.com/m51ELo5Yvp. Its very difficult to separate them from the top team on this list, but . So how might they fix the disparity in Game 7? What should be more important to the Celtics in the East playoff race? Even more impressive, Holiday recovered the loose ball and threw it off Smart. Giannis Antetokounmpo joins Shaquille ONeal and Wilt Chamberlain as the only players to do this in a playoff game: 40 PTS 20 REB 5 AST pic.twitter.com/4BeNV8yzU6. ET, ESPN), Philadelphia 76ers (46-29), 1.5 games back. section: | slug: 2022-nba-playoffs-five-big-questions-entering-final-weekend-including-a-complicated-bucks-celtics-tiebreaker | sport: basketball | route: article_single.us | Thursday nights regular-season home finale at Fiserv Forum was a matchup of an unstoppable force colliding with an immovable object. The Fiserv Forum crowd, nervous and quiet for much of the middle two quarters, was alive. Tatum hit a fadeaway shot. at The . But with Kevin Durant healthy and Kyrie Irving just cleared to play in home games, they are not a typical first round matchup for one of the top teams in the conference. A lot still remains up in the air with just a few days left in the regular season. The Bucks are 2-1 against the Pistons this season but lost the last matchup 115-106 at Milwaukee on Jan. 3 So, some positives from that.. The Bucks are 33-18and Boston is 33-19at the moment. Entering play on Friday, the Warriors lead the Mavericks by one game. Cleveland Cavaliers. Bucks vs. Celtics is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. 76ers (51-31) Milwaukee was without reserve guard Grayson Allen (left hip soreness), but Bobby Portis scored 17 points off the bench for the Bucks. pic.twitter.com/EHlIwwHhBz, Jrue showing off that defensive skill. 10:15 pm ET, at The Celtics and Heat meet for the final time in the regular season on Wednesday. TWO HUGE DEFENSIVE PLAYS BY JRUE BUCKS GO UP 3-2. pic.twitter.com/qx678hYiLf. But finishing third would take away home court for the second round, unless the Nets upset the Bucks, and finishing fourth would likely set up a second-round matchup with the Heat. (A Philadelphia-Brooklyn first-round matchup would be delicious though.). A team that finishes the regular season in either ninth or 10th place can do no better than the No. For that to happen, Philly has to win its last two and Boston has to lose its final game to Memphis. That would set up the possibility of a C's-Bulls first-round matchup if Boston loses to Milwaukee on Thursday. Under those conditions, the Celtics will finish with a 20-13 record, the Bucks with a 17-15 record, and so the Celtics clinch the tiebreaker. The Milwaukee Bucks are one win away from a berth in the Eastern Conference finals after pulling off a fourth-quarter comeback against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden in Game 5 of their best-of-seven series on Wednesday night. Odds & lines subject to change. 9 Charlotte (Hornets hold tiebreaker) and a 1.5 game lead on No. 1 Heat in the first round. On the last back-to-back the Bucks sat four starters in a lopsided loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on April 1 and the Pistons have won three of their last four behind No. Celtics rout Bucks to close out epic series Jayson Tatum puts up 23 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists while Grant Williams chips in a career-high 27 points (7 3PM) to pace Game 7 victory. His closet competitor was LeBron James, who won't be eligible now that he's set to sit the Lakers' final two games (you have to play at least 58 games to be eligible for the scoring title, and LeBron has only played 56). Bucks vs. Celtics. Then Antetokounmpo drained a 3-pointer from 28 feet to make it 85-81 and it was on. Bostons remaining schedule is split evenly between home (26-12) and road (21-17) and includes head-to-head matchups with both Miami (Wednesday) and Milwaukee (April 7). big time play. Pat Connaughton was able to cut him off, which forced Smart to readjust and gave Holiday time to come flying in and stuff the shot. Then it would be down to Milwaukee and Boston as division winners, which sends it back to a straight two-team tiebreaker. 4 Sixers by one game in the loss column. 2023 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Their two-way ceiling is probably higher than any other outfit in the league. Entering Wednesdays games, there are 12 days and just 96 games remaining in the 2021-22 regular season. Oh, there probably are some old-school coaches somewhere watching games like this one and reveling in the site of strong, thoroughly fit athletes falling backwards again, and again, and again, in search of drawing offensive fouls. The wing depth is actually solid, and Deandre Ayton has had great playoff moments in the past. The two-seed is there for the Celtics -- if they want it. Bos has one game left at Memphis; Philly plays Ind/Det. All rights reserved. They led by as many as five until the Bucks took brief leads of 115-114 with 5:39 left and 118-116 with 4:47 to go. They currently sit in fourth place behind the other three contenders, they do not own a single head-to-head tiebreaker (2-2 vs Miami, 2-2 vs. Boston, 1-2 vs. Milwaukee) and are not in a good position for any further tiebreakers as their .600 win percentage vs. the East is fourth among the top four teams and they are the only team not leading a division entering Wednesday. at Stephen Curry has been so good when hes been on the floor this year. TheNuggetshave all the ingredients to make the Finals. The plus-minus is a tough stat, Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said. "Surgery can be season-ending, so you dont want to do that. The Celtics have a somewhat built-in excuse to punt the game, given it's the second leg of a back-to-back. Instead, they turned around a 14-point deficit thanks to some big-time shot making, a dominant performance on the offensive glass and a little bit of luck. Early in the frame, as the Celtics were threatening to pull away, the Bucks knocked down three 3-pointers in a two-minute span to stay attached. Holiday then closed for the Bucks with five points of his own to help his team take an advantage into the fourth. The Milwaukee Bucks (22-10) and Boston Celtics (23-10) meet Sunday at TD Garden.Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. Please enter a valid email and try again. 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 head-to-head matchup on April 7 that is certainly a game to circle on the calendar. 7 Cleveland. The early returns of the Luka Doncic-Kyrie Irving pairing havent been stellar. Will Russell Westbrook still be starting? Good old Game 7, Antetokounmpo said. Boston shooters seek him out as a defender to exploit (at least until George Hill comes into the game). 9:25 pm ET, at It will be tough for them to overcome that massive hurdle. After the Bucks went on a huge run between the third and fourth quarter to erase a 12-point deficit and lead 99-97 with 8:48 remaining in regulation, White scored back-to-back baskets to put Boston back ahead 101-99. Boston got big offensive performances from its three best players, with Tatum, Smart (21) and Brown (22) combining for 89 points. 2 seed in the East, while the Brooklyn Nets have vaulted to the No. So, in summation, Boston is in line for the No. Holiday shot 8-of-12 from beyond the arc. Dallas hosts Portland and San Antonio, and the Warriors are at San Antonio and at New Orleans. It leaves Giannis Antetokounmpo as the only marginally reasonable threat to Embiid. wow, horford with a massive put back slam to push the celtics' lead to six. Here are four takeaways from Celtics-Bucks. The Celtics led by 12 points at one point in the third quarter, but the Bucks made a huge run and hit several clutch shots late in the fourth quarter to take a 116-113 lead with 7.4 seconds remaining. Call 1-800-GAMBLER. With 14.2 seconds remaining, Giannis went to the line with the Bucks trailing by two. The start of the third quarter kind of stands out to me [as a struggle]. Most importantly, Giannis is an MVP-caliber player who can take his game to a place very few are capable of doing in the postseason. Boston also has to travel to Memphis to face the No. Among the four teams in this race, Miami has the second-easiest schedule based on opponent win percentage. It feels a lot better now and just trying to give everything I have.. The Bucks failed to cover as 2.5-point underdogs in a 118-100 loss at the Brooklyn Nets Friday. The Hawks are also just one game back of the Cavs, and if Atlanta wins its final two (at Miami and at Houston), it would force Cleveland -- in addition to beating Brooklyn -- to also win its final game of the season (vs. Milwaukee) because the Hawks own the tiebreaker via a 3-1 head-to-head advantage. Boston has the edgehere, owning a 20-13 record against the 10 Eastern Conference playoff qualifiers (a field that is set). The Celtics (50-31) have one game left in Memphis on Sunday while the Bucks headed right to the airport to play Detroit on Friday and then wrap the regular season in Cleveland on Sunday for a. The Bucks clinched the head-to-head tiebreaker with Philadelphia on Tuesday winning the season series 2-1 they are tied with Miami 2. So here they were Friday night with all those bad memories, on the road, against the NBAs defending champions and the two-time Most Valuable Player, facing elimination. The Boston Celtics were severely shorthanded in Tuesday night's road game against the Milwaukee Bucks and nearly pulled off an upset. While the Bucks have not clinched the Central Division, they do hold a commanding 3.5-game lead over Chicago, in case that tiebreaker is needed at the end of the season. With just over five minutes to play, Jayson Tatum hit a mid-range jumper to put the Celtics up 101-95. The good news for the Bucks is that they have a lot of control here. The Bucks had a 13-point lead at one point and then trailed most of the fourth quarter, and a dramatic final few minutes were set up by the fact the Celtics ran out of the gates in the fourth quarter with seven straight points to take a 104-102 lead with 10:24 left in the game. 8 seed. The Bucks used a 14-3 run in the middle of the first quarter to take a 27-20 lead with 4:05 to go, a margin they would take into the second quarter with a 36-29 lead. A day after formally signing Argentinian guard Luca Vildoza, the Bucks waived injured forward DeAndre Bembry to once again open up a 15th and final roster spot. 2 seed. Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook's lines around the Bucks vs. Celtics odds, and make our expert NBA picks and predictions.. That got the lead back to double digits, 98-87, with about five minutes left and the Bucks never got closer. 1 seed. 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. Celtics have the tiebreaker over 76ers, so things are trending toward #Bulls vs. Boston in playoffs. CLUTCH HAUSER HITS THE 3 pic.twitter.com/m51ELo5Yvp The C's didn't have four of their top-six scorers -- Jayson Tatum (non-Covid illness), Jaylen Brown (facial fracture), Al Horford (knee soreness) and Marcus Smart (ankle sprain). 3 or No. He took 32 shots, made 17 of them and at 7-of-15 from the arc, hit as many 3-pointers as the entire Bucks team combined (7-of-29). Boston sits at +215 on the moneyline while the . The supporting cast still feels thin. The sleek, smooth-shooting forward had a Giannis Antetokounmpo sort of game against Giannis Antetokounmpo. Here's a look at their shots in the final five minutes: The Celtics turned things around this season -- and have had the most success this series -- when they started moving the ball, getting into the teeth of the defense and putting teams in rotation. You could make a case, however, that he isn't even the best defensive guard in this series. Here's the. 2 seed with their win over Boston on Thursday night, and now lead the No. Los Angeles Clippers. However, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis are all listed as doubtful Sunday. Bucks vs. Celtics. Raptors NBA Playoff odds. For Denver to pass the Jazz, it needs to win its final game (vs. Lakers ) and have the Jazz lose their final two (vs. Phoenix and at Portland). Grant Williams thought he got the Greek Freak at 10:16 of the fourth, only to have the Bucks challenge and win. Here's a look at the updated East standings as of Wednesday morning: In an ideal world, Boston should want to face a team like Chicago or Cleveland instead of the streaking Raptors or Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and the dangerous Nets. While Dallas entered Tuesday a firm plus in their minutes, the defense has predictably not been great when the two share the floor. 2 seed in the case of a three-team tie, with Milwaukee ending up No. Budenholzer said there is no minutes restriction on Hill. Falling into the three-seed wouldn't be the worst thing to happen to Boston. After scoring 12 points in 16 minutes during his C's debut on Fridayand then 10 points versus the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday, the veteran forward racked up 10 points over the first five minutes of Tuesday's matchup. Celtics vs. Cavaliers odds, picks, prediction, bets, Bulls vs. Pistons odds, picks, prediction, bets, Knicks vs. Nets odds, picks, prediction, bets, Hawks have a Trae Young problem, Quin Snyder must fix, Nikola Jokic becomes 6th player with 100 triple-doubles, Bucks get 15th straight win, complete perfect February. Back then, my highly scientific (a.k.a. Much has changed since we last ranked NBA title contenders headed into the new year. The James Harden-Joel Embiid pick and roll remains one of the most lethal actions in the game. We'll see if they really want it (and if the Bucks want it, for that matter) when the two teams take the floor in Milwaukee on Thursday night. The 76ers currently sit in fourth with an identical 49-30 record as the Bucks, who own the tiebreaker over Philly. Giannis' massive triple late in the fourth came from an offensive rebound, which was another key to the comeback. NBA.com is part of Warner Media, LLCs Turner Sports & Entertainment Digital Network, *Translations are limited to select pages, Kia MVP Ladder Matchup: Giannis bests Embiid, NBA set to celebrate Noches neBA program, NBA DFS Picks: Yahoo plays and strategy for Feb. 28, Durant expected to make Suns debut tonight, NBA DraftKings & FanDuel DFS Primer: Feb. 28, Scoot Henderson says hes ready for NBA Draft, Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Philadelphia 76ers, Celtics host the Heat (7:30 p.m. 3 Celtics and No. 1 seed out of the play-in tournament if they win the 9-10 matchup and beat the loser of the 7-8 matchup. Beating the Celtics was a huge boost, and Cleveland represents a winnable challenge. If the Bucks. No one wants defenders to be treated like bowling pins, but when they go hunting for charges, some of the games biggest stars like Antetokounmpo and Tatum are put at crazy risk. 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. vibes) method gave theNetsthe second-best chance at winning it all this season, while theSunsin the middle of a downturncame in at ninth. The problem is experience. On Tuesday, the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Philadelphia 76ers behind Giannis Antetokounmpos 40 points and game-sealing block on Joel Embiid in the closing seconds. As of Feb. 27, the Raptors have a 45 percent chance of making the 2023 NBA Playoffs, according to FiveThirtyEight's projections. 9:20 pm ET, Jayson Tatum turnaround mid-range jumper: make, Jayson Tatum fadeaway mid-range jumper: miss, Jaylen Brown pull-up mid-range jumper: miss. Theis grabbed his head in disbelief and Antetokounmpo was fouled the other way, making one of two free throws for a 125-121 lead with 39 seconds left. Dont be surprised if the elimination factor Sunday flushes Middleton back into the lineup, minutes restriction be darned. Eastern Conference top 4 through games played on March 29. Facing elimination, Jayson Tatum steps up with 46 points for the Celtics, who withstand another brilliant performance from Giannis Antetokounmpo. Sometimes you miss shots, but that wasn't the issue for Boston. Holiday also had 29 points and handed out eight assists while Middleton scored 22 points and had nine assists. Early in the frame, as the Celtics were threatening to pull away, the Bucks knocked down three 3-pointers in a two-minute span to stay attached. 1 team until the conference finals. Get out of D-White's way this man is on a MISSION pic.twitter.com/SjbxwvZcnu. CBS Sports is a registered trademark of CBS Broadcasting Inc. 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