Doing It Wit Defense

Shank will now have to take a week or two to take that annual dump on the Celtics:

The Celtics wore out the great Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks, and they did it with defense

The Bruins’ season ended Saturday. The Red Sox season feels like it ended in April. The Patriots offseason has been wildly underwhelming.

It was left to the Men in Green to keep things interesting around here and the Celtics did not disappoint Sunday, with a 109-81 Game 7 victory over the reigning NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks. Veterans Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart will take their talents to South Beach for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals Tuesday night at FTX Arena.

A raucous Causeway Street crowd chanted “Beat the Heat!” in the closing seconds of the first rout of the series.

One Tough Loss

We're now one loss away from Shank taking his annual post-season dump on any Boston team which doesn't win it all, and we get a preview here:

Game 5 loss for Celtics will go down as one of the toughest in Boston sports lore

It is almost beyond comprehension.

It appeared certain the Celtics had this one. We saw 48 minutes of blood and thunder basketball between two worthy teams and there were electric moments in our fabled gym joint. There seemed to be no doubt the Celtics would take a 3-2 series lead back to Milwaukee with a chance to close things out and advance to the conference Finals.

The Celtics led by 14 in the fourth quarter. They led by 6 with 2:12 to go when Ageless Al Horford threw down a dunk after a Jaylen Brown miss.

And then the defending world champions showed you what they are made of and took back the night, beating the Celtics, 110-107, in what is surely one of the toughest losses in Boston sports lore.

One Quarter For The Ages

Shank's talking about the fourth quarter of the Celtics' Game 4 win on Monday night over the Milwaukee Bucks, but my observation's a bit different:

A fourth quarter for the ages, a legendary dunk from Al Horford, and the Celtics-Bucks series is all even

MILWAUKEE — If the Celtics go on to win Flag 18 ('Flag' - seriously? - ed), years from now when tall tales are told, this might be the night folks talk about the most. This might be like Dave Roberts stealing second base, or Adam Vinatieri drilling the ice ball through the uprights in the last game played at Foxboro Stadium

Or ending your sentences with periods.

The Celtics beat the World Champion Milwaukee Bucks, 116-108, at Fiserv Forum Monday night to square their conference semifinal series, 2-2. Game 5 is Wednesday at the Garden, Game 6 is Friday back in Brewtown (Brewtown - must be firsthand knowledge! - ed), and Game 7 (probably necessary) Sunday on Causeway Street. Bring your popcorn.

And a copy editor - there's more poorly written hackery to follow that'd make a high school English teacher shake his head.

Remain Calm - All Is Well?

That seems to be the message Shank's trying to deliver after watching yesterday's Game 3 between the Celtics and the Bucks:

It was a tough finish, but all is not lost for Celtics

MILWAUKEE — The ball bounded back and forth, in and out, pinball-like, almost in slow motion.

Marcus Smart, rebounding his own intentionally missed free throw, had first crack with four seconds left. No good. Then Robert Williams tipped it back onto the rim. Not quite. Then Jrue Holiday got a hand on it and almost put it in the wrong basket. No. Finally, Al Horford tapped it through the hole just after the horn sounded.

It was initially ruled a bucket and the score was fixed at 103-103. For a second, it looked like we were going into overtime.

But Horford’s tap came after the red lights around the backboard lit. It was too late to save the Celtics for OT. A quick review revealed what we pretty much already knew.

A Question Nobody's Asking

Shank does a column on the Celtics loss last night to the Milwaukee Bucks:

Who really thought the Celtics were going to have it easy?

MILWAUKEE — Admit it, Celtic fans, you were getting a little cocky about this.

The playoff narrative was that the Celtics had fixed everything after their disappointing regular season. They swept the Indiana Pacers in Round 1, then spanked the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks by 22 points in the first game of the Eastern Conference semifinal. Hot-take artist Paul Pierce announced that the series was officially over and some of us spent 48 hours pondering whether it would be better for the Celts to face the Sixers or the Raptors in the conference final.

A Tale Of Two Columns

Shank, yesterday:

Before we go any further, here’s a little tip for you Celtics fans: Resign yourself to the fact that you’re going to be seeing a lot of Giannis Antetokounmpo at the free throw line. This is not because the refs have it in for the Celtics. Do not listen to the words of Tommy Heinsohn, or any latter-day Johnny Mosts. There’s no need to call sports talk radio and cry about Giannis getting favorable treatment. No. The Greek Freak is going to be at the line all day because the Celtics have no one that can stop him legally in the paint. He is an NBA freight train and if he gets the ball going downhill it’s either 2 points or two free throws. Brad Stevens will throw Aron Baynes, Al Horford, and Semi Ojeleye at Giannis (too bad Marcus Smart, Jim Loscutoff, and Bob Brannum are not available). It will not be enough. Antetokounmpo is going to be the MVP of the NBA this year. He is the reason this series could be the end of the road for the frustrating, maddening 2018-19 Celtics.

Shank, this afternoon:

MILWAUKEE — The Celtics flipped the switch, just like they said they would. They pantsed the best player in the world and delivered a message that they are a force to be reckoned with in this NBA tournament.

The Celtics humbled the NBA’s top seed Sunday, smothering Giannis Antetokounmpo and racing to a 112-90 win over the Bucks in the first game of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

The Greek Freak finished with 22 points, but anybody who watched knows the he was humbled. He made only seven of 21 shots. Three of his baskets were 3-pointers. He had 1 point in the first quarter and made only two of seven shots in the first half when the Bucks fell behind by 15. The Freak’s shot was blocked three times in the restricted area. These things just do not happen.

But they did. What a difference a day makes.

The Waiting Game

Shank lightly complains about the long wait between Celtics' playoff series:

MILWAUKEE — Celtics-Bucks.

This is the series you’ve been waiting for.

And I do mean waiting.

When the Celtics finally take the Fiserv Forum floor Sunday afternoon to play the top-seeded Bucks, it will have been a week since the Green Team actually played a basketball game. The Bruins will have finished FOUR playoff games since the Celtics erased the Pacers last Sunday in Indianapolis. The Patriots will have made all their trades and selections in the three-day NFL Draft.

A pretty good column follows; it's worth checking out.

Never Let Bad News Go To Waste

The Boston Celtics lost Game 4 of their series with the Milwaukee Bucks, and Shank is there with a shovel to start burying them.

MILWAUKEE — Color me shocked. In this awesome April of Boston sports dominance, all of our teams went off script in a wicked 18-hour stretch from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon.

The Bruins were set to eliminate the Toronto Maple Leafs in their first-round series at the Garden late Saturday, but fell behind, 4-1, and couldn’t finish their dramatic comeback. Moments later, while most of you were sleeping, the 17-2 Red Sox were no-hit on the West Coast by an Oakland A’s lefthander named Sean Manaea.

And just after Sunday brunch here in Brew-town, the Celtics fell behind by 20, roared back to a late-game lead, but fell to the Milwaukee Bucks, 104-102, when Marcus Morris’s 18-footer clanged off the back of the rim just before the buzzer. The loss erased Boston’s series lead and sent the Celts back to the Hub tied at 2-2.