The Bucks Take A 3-1 Lead On Boston As Giannis And The Bench Dominate Game 4

Game 4 was, as they say, a pivotal one on Monday night between the Bucks and Celtics in Boston. With a win, the Bucks could extend their series lead to 3-1, an all-but insurmountable lead in a seven-game series. That meant the Celtics were in desperate need of evening things up, and were getting Marcus Smart back in their effort to do so and shift pressure back onto Milwaukee.

Early on, the Celtics looked energized, particularly on defense where they frustrated the Bucks and took an eight point advantage into the second quarter. Unsurprisingly the Bucks came alive in the second, playing some tough defense of their own, to cut the Boston lead to two at the break, despite a horrific shooting half.

As has been the case in Games 2 and 3, the third quarter was pivotal for the Bucks, but they got the job done with their bench, not their stars, which seemed demoralizing for the Celtics. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton both picked up their fourth fouls early in the third, forcing them to the bench. An Al Horford three-pointer gave Boston a three-point lead with 7:01 to go in the quarter, as Middleton and Giannis sat down.

The rest of the quarter the two All-Stars remained seated and watched as Eric Bledsoe, George Hill, Pat Connaughton, Sterling Brown, Ersan Ilyasova, and Brook Lopez led the way on a 21-10 run to give Milwaukee an eight-point lead, one they would ultimately extend to a 113-101 final.

After Hill and Connaughton, who combined for 24 points, did their thing, it was Giannis’ time to close it out. In the fourth quarter, the Celtics cut the Bucks lead to as few as five, but Giannis Antetokounmpo, refreshed from his eight minutes of rest in the third, decided to take over down the stretch on his way to a dominant performance of 39 points and 16 rebounds.

Bledsoe punctuated the win with an emphatic block on Jayson Tatum, putting the stamp on a defensive effort that held Boston to 37.1% shooting from the floor and 20% from three.

The Celtics needed their All-Star to step up in Game 4 and he was unable to, as Kyrie Irving shot 7-of-22 from the field for 23 points in the loss. All five Boston starters hit double figures, but their inability to hit threes or score efficiently kept the Bucks around early and ultimately let them run away with the win late.