NBA: The Celtics return, the Warriors take off

The Celtics, thanks to Al Horford and Jayson Tatum, won in Milwaukee to tie 2-2 in their conference semi-final on Monday in the NBA play-off, while the Warriors, the long-shaky hand, painstakingly defeated the Grizzlies to lead 3-1.

Game No 3 had left a bitter taste in Horford, after his tap-rebound entered the basket a few hundredths of a second after the buzzer. Too late for an extension, which could have led to a result other than defeat (103-101).

This time, it was a big smile that the 35-year-old winger was able to wear, author of the best performance of his career in the play-off. His 30 points (11/14 on shots, 8 rebounds) were all the more decisive as he scored 16 in the last quarter, to allow Boston to sound the charge, after being 11 lengths behind. a few minutes earlier.

“We had our backs against the wall. We had to react and that’s what we did. We did not give up,” he commented after the victory (116-108). Horford had yet in front of him Giannis Antetokounmpo, dominating for three quarters, before weighing less in the money-time, but who still finished with 34 points and 18 rebounds.

Their duel was intense. In the 3rd quarter, after a dunk, the “Greek Freak” (the “Greek Monster”) looked down at him. A provocation that earned him a technical foul. The Celtics winger responded in the following period, dunking Giannis in turn. As he fell, his left elbow hit his opponent’s jaw. What also harvest a “technique”.

This show of strength from Horford galvanized Boston, who had just equalized 81-81, and more particularly Jayson Tatum, anxious to show that he was better than the 9 points scored in the previous game.

The winger also managed a high-flying last quarter, scoring 12 of his 30 points (13 rebounds), well helped by Marcus Smart (18 pts) author of some important baskets in the final act.

It was only 45 seconds from time that the Warriors took the lead for the first time in the match (94-93). Le tou, having played one of their worst matches of the season, yet called to be the least complicated in the series, in the absence of the phenomenon Ja Morant, hit in the right knee.

Stephen Curry, despite an address at half mast (10/25), was able to force the decision, scoring 18 of his 32 points in the last quarter, including eight of the last nine points for the Warriors, all free throws. Meanwhile, Draymond Green’s counter on Jaren Jackson Jr, the strong man opposite (21 pts, 5 rebounds, 5 blocks), was also decisive.

For a long time, nothing worked out for the Warriors. Their first period was even catastrophic, since they missed their first 15 attempts at long distance. A festival of “bricks”, which ended with a 2/20 at the break, embellished with 11 lost balloons, including ten in the first quarter alone.

Coach Steve Kerr, deprived of a bench because he entered under Covid protocol, must not have appreciated seeing his team thwart and persist so much behind the arc (9/35 in the end), like Klay Thompson (0 /7, 14 pts however).

Kerr must have tasted little to see his defense also long at bay, leaving Memphis to count up to twelve units in advance in the 3rd Quarter. As such, the Grizzlies can feed regrets to have passed close to an exploit which could have rocked this series.

But on the Warriors side, be careful not to sell too quickly the skin – which they defend so dearly – of these Grizzlies!