Celtics Crush Bucks In Game 7, Move On To Face 76ers
By Matthew Geagan, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Boston Celtics are moving on to the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The C's dominated the Milwaukee Bucks in a deciding Game 7, finishing off their first-round set with a 112-96 victory at the TD Garden. They will now face the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round, with Game 1 set for Monday night in Boston.
Terry Rozier led the way for Boston on Saturday night with 26 points on 10-for-16 shooting (including 5-for-8 from three), nine assists and six rebounds. He hit back-to-back threes midway through the fourth quarter to put Boston up 19 and essentially end the contest. For good measure, Rozier made a nice driving layup with 1:45 left to put Boston up 105-91.
Al Horford had himself a night as well with 26 points on 13-for-17 shooting and eight rebounds. Rookie Jayson Tatum added 20 points for the victors, which is not too shabby for a 20-year-old in his first Game 7.
The Celtics closed out the first quarter on a 20-2 run to take a 30-17 lead after the first 12 minutes. Milwaukee pulled within two points with an 11-2 run capped off by an Eric Bledsoe floater despite a "Who Is Bledsoe?" chant from the Boston crowd (the Celtics also showed former Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe on the big screen, a solid troll job by the team). But the Celtics' lead was back to double digits a few minutes later when Marcus Smart made a steal and fed Horford for a driving layup, giving Boston a 43-32 advantage. The Celtics led 50-42 at halftime.
The Celtics offense had little trouble in the third quarter, pouring in 31 points in the frame. Marcus Morris had seven points in the quarter, helping Boston build a 14-point lead heading into the fourth. Morris finished with 10 points off the bench -- all in the second half.
There is another injury concern for Boston though, as Jaylen Brown left the game in the first half with a sore right hamstring. He did not play the rest of the way, and Brad Stevens did not have an update after the game. He said Brown could have played in a pinch, but wasn't going to do that to his 21-year-old guard. Brown told reporters after the game he has a Grade-1 hamstring strain, but didn't say anything about a return. Stevens said they'll see how Brown feels on Sunday and go from there.
The three-seeded 76ers are one of the hottest teams in the NBA. They won 16 straight to close out the regular season and took care of the Miami Heat in five games during the first round. Rookie phenom Ben Simmons, a 6-10 point guard and matchup nightmare, leads the way for Philadelphia averaging 18.2 points, 10.6 rebounds and nine assists during the playoffs. Big-man Joel Embiid averaged 22.9 points and 11 rebounds in the three games he played against Miami, while sharpshooter J.J. Redick led all Philadelphia with 20 points per game off 46 percent shooting from the floor against the Heat.
The Celtics went 3-1 against Philly during the regular season, but all four matchups came before they lost Kyrie Irving for the season.
As a franchise, Boston is now 20-4 all-time at home in Game 7s.
