Grant Williams scored 27 points as the Boston Celtics defeated the defending NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks 109-81 in game seven of their Eastern Conference series on Sunday.
Celtics forward Williams displayed a lethal three-point shooting performance at the TD Garden as Boston won the series 4-3 to go to the conference finals against the Miami Heat.
Williams’s red-hot three-point shooting exemplified Boston’s domination from the field, as the Bucks missed numerous open shots.
Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 25 points, 20 rebounds, and nine assists.
However, the accuracy of the Celtics’ three-point shooting proved decisive as Boston completed a comeback from a 3-2 deficit in the best-of-seven series.
Milwaukee converted only four of 33 attempts from three-point range, in sharp contrast to Boston’s 22-of-55 performance.
Williams led the three-point barrage with seven three-pointers among his 27 points. Jayson Tatum converted five of nine three-point attempts for 23 points.
Payton Pritchard also scored 14 points with four three-pointers off the bench.
Bobby Portis was the only Milwaukee player to make multiple three-pointers. Portis concluded his 10-point scoring with two points.
I advised him to let it fly. Udoka stated, “I responded, ‘They’re disrespecting you more tonight than before in the series.'”
“After he missed a few shots and became reluctant, I told him to shoot the ball because what else could he do?”
Williams expressed his eagerness to face the challenge posed by Udoka and the rest of his Celtics teammates.
“Everyone was yelling, ‘Let it fly,’ and ‘Keep shooting.’ Therefore, I reasoned, ‘Well, they’re encouraging it, so I might as well take advantage.’ As time passed, everyone became more at ease. It was enjoyable. It was fantastic that we won,” Williams stated.
“I’ve practiced my shooting enough to feel confident about making those baskets.
“My teammates are aware that if I receive 18 looks, I will make at least 40 percent of them. It was simply doing what we wanted to accomplish and maintaining those unfettered expressions.
“We hadn’t put together a complete game this entire season. Then we reasoned, why not now? We did what expect of us.”
Boston was the only club throughout the series, according to Milwaukee head coach Mike Budenholzer, who offered no justifications for the loss.
“I could not be more honored of our team,” stated Budenholzer. “We’ve had a great deal of success together, but we’ve reached a dead end tonight.”
Tuesday’s game one of the Eastern Conference finals will feature a rematch between Boston and top seeds Miami.
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This series was won by Miami, 4-2, to advance to the NBA Finals. Read more.