Milwaukee Bucks defeat Boston Celtics 110-107 in Game 5 to claim 3-2 series lead

The Milwaukee Bucks claimed a tiebreaker in Game 5 on Wednesday after defeating the Boston Celtics 110-107 in a neck-to-neck matchup. The win had Milwaukee leading the second-round series 3-2.

Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo had a colossal team-high record, which resulted in the defeat of the Celtics at TD Garden. The Greek Freak dominated the game on scoring boards and was on his best playoff shooting performance.

Meanwhile, on Boston’s side, forward Jayson Tatum and guard Jaylen Brown tried their best to catch up with the leading Milwaukee. The aftermath of the game had the defending champion Celtics closer to getting eliminated from this year’s playoffs.

Celtics dominate Game 5

Saying Game 5 was competitive is an understatement. Milwaukee led the first quarter with only two points gap over Boston. Boston managed to catch up with the leading Milwaukee in the second and passed the visiting team in the second half, leading 54-47.

Both Tatum and Brown had a fair share of stealing the spotlight. The former made 34 and the latter had 26 points. The duo was trailed by guard Marcus Smart with his 15 points.

The Celtics would stretch their lead in the third quarter only to have the Bucks claim the entire game in the fourth. Boston is known in the NBA for its versatility, but Milwaukee bested the hosting team.

Despite the higher steal and turnover counts, the Bucks made higher shooting from the field. Milwaukee was 40 out of 92, while Boston had 42 out of 82. The franchise made 13 three-pointers out of 29 attempts.

The Greek Freak covered most of the Bucks' scoring efforts. Racking up a game-high of a whopping 40 points, three assists, and an additional 11 rebounds, Antetokounmpo’s aggressive tap in the offense was helped much by a versatile defense and well-structured team coordination.

Behind Antetokounmpo on the Celtics’ scoring board was guard Jrue Holiday, who managed 24 points and double eight on assists and rebounds. Holiday is known for excelling in defensive play, and he showed Antetokounmpo how to.

As the game approached the final leg of the race, Holiday put an end to Smart’s two ball possessions in the fourth quarter. Milwaukee star guard’s three-pointers were made with only 43 seconds left on the clock.

“Just a great instinctive play by Jrue,” Milwaukee head coach Mike Budenholzer praised Holiday’s defense. “He's a winner. Jrue Holiday's a winner. You ask any player in this league or any coach in this league. He's a winner.”

When the game was nearing its end, the gap between Boston and Milwaukee was as little as three points—and Holiday’s defense was all the franchise ever needed to corner the hosting team.

“Obviously, in Boston you're down 14 in the fourth quarter, people would say everything's against us. But we come together,” Holiday said who also hit the tying 3-pointer with 43 seconds left. “We live and die like that.”

Smart also praised the Bucks’ defense, calling them “defending champs”.

“If we box out we win that game,” Smart said. “They're the defending champs. They made some championship plays. And now we've got to bounce back.”

It will only need a Game 6 victory on Friday for the Bucks to proceed to the Eastern Conference finals and eliminate the much-hyped Celtics.