Bucks force a Game 7 with the Celtics: 3 takeaways

The Bucks did all the little things to even their series with the Celtics, and force a Game 7 on Saturday back in Boston.

Facing elimination, the Bucks came out and took care of business on their home floor to force a Game 7. Milwaukee ran relentlessly, rotated crisply and crashed the glass, taking care of all the little details that Boston had been winning on earlier in the series.

A huge second quarter helped the Bucks build a nine-point lead heading into halftime. Boston tied the game midway through the third, only to see Milwaukee run away from them. They closed the gap again in the fourth, but the Bucks closed strong and made the plays they needed to collect the win.

It was an especially tough night for Boston’s shooters, who shot 10-of-36 on 3-pointers. Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and Terry Rozier were a combined 7-of-24. The Celtics will need that group to return to form if they’re going to defend their home floor and bounce back to win the series.

Takeaways

The Marcus Morris game. Morris has put up some points for the Celtics this series, and had made an even half of his 16 3-point attempts coming into this game. He’d also been shooting just 34.0 percent inside the arc, and in this game the Celtics got the worst of Morris’ skillset. Down the stretch he held the ball and forced shots and Boston worked to try and make up their deficit. He finished the game 5-of-14 from the field including 3-of-7 during the fourth quarter. He wasn’t the only Celtic who struggled with his shot, but he seemed to be more disruptive to their offensive rhythm than anyone else.

The glass. The book on the Boston Celtics used to be exploiting their weakness on the glass. Boston was vastly improved in that area in the regular season and had won the rebounding battle in the first five games of this series. Milwaukee outrebounded them in Game 6, 48-39, including seven big offensive rebounds that led to eight second-chance points. The Bucks won a lot of the little battles that they’ve been losing earlier in the series, and rebounding was a perfect microcosm.

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The Giannis. He’s the most talented player on the floor and he made all the big plays for the Bucks down the stretch, scoring tough basket after tough basket. Antetokounmpo finished with 31 points, 14 rebounds and four assists, shooting 56.5 percent from the field. He was constantly pushing the ball down the floor off defensive rebounds, one of the reasons the Bucks finished with a 25-4 edge in fastbreak points, despite forcing just nine Celtics turnovers. Milwaukee will need him to be this player again in Game 7.