They met along the Celtics sidelines, a playful shove giving way to a firm handshake and a warm embrace. Six months ago the idea that Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown would be celebrating a series-clinching Game 7 win over Milwaukee, would be gearing up for a trip to the conference finals seemed improbable, laughable even, not with Boston stumbling through the first two months of the season and whispers to break up the Celtics’ 20-something wings growing louder by the loss. Then, the Celtics’ season seemed snake bitten. In the final moments on Sunday, as Tatum and Brown headed to the bench, with the roar of more than 19,000 fans greeting them, it felt redeemed.
What a game. What a series. Seven games is the most the Celtics and Bucks could play, but no one would have griped if they went seven more. This wasn’t basketball. It was boxing, in high tops. Boston’s stars, Tatum and Brown, showed up. Milwaukee’s top duo, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday, did, too. There was Al Horford’s 30-point effort in a series-salvaging Game 4. Bobby Portis’s 14-point, 15-rebound output in a thrilling comeback in Game 5. On Sunday it was Grant Williams—Grant Williams!—leading Boston’s three-point assault, snapping Stephen Curry’s record for three-pointers attempted in a Game 7 along the way.
“Two Charlotte shooters,” Ime Udoka said.
