The Celtics beat the Bucks 116-108 away from home, and in the fourth quarter of the game, Horford scored 16 points with an unsolvable offensive and defensive performance, leading the Green Army to reverse the opponent 43-28 in the single quarter. Horford cut 30 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 block, becoming the oldest player in Green Army history to cut 30+ after the 37-year-old Havreczek. Teammate Tatum also played well, scoring 12 points in the final quarter, and in the fourth quarter he and Horford scored 28 points to tie the Bucks in a single quarter. Meanwhile, the duo are also the first pair of green army playoff pairs to score 30+ points since Pierce and Ray Allen in 2011.
When the fourth game of the Celtics-Bucks series reached the third quarter, many Green Army fans were already desperate.
But at that stage, Horford's sister Anna was adamant that the Celtics would win the game. She updated her social media and posted a photo of the alphabet brother glaring at Horford angrily. Anna wrote: "The Bucks are going to die, because I know that expression, Horford is already angry. ”
Next, the Celtics played a fourth quarter that surprised everyone. They scored 43 points in this quarter, and Horford alone had 16 points. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Horford even faced the alphabet brother to break through to complete the 2+1 barrier. "Brother Alphabet staring at me is somewhat unacceptable to me, and such behavior is really not too appropriate. I would say that it was that moment that completely inspired me! Horford said.
In fact, in the last game, Horford already had a good performance. He scored 22 points, 16 rebounds and five assists in a single game, the first time Horford had been 20+10+5 in a single game since the 2015 playoffs. I thought that the third game of the series was already the limit of Horford. However, he cut 30 points and 8 rebounds today.
The plot of the fourth battle between the Celtics and the Bucks is actually much different from the third battle. However, the pressure on the team in this game is completely different from the previous game. Especially after the end of the first three quarters, the Celtics fell into an absolute disadvantage, which was somewhat worrying about their performance. Fortunately, the 35-year-old Horford has once again stepped up, and he can not only hit three-pointers, mid-range, but even complete some basket attacks.
"I was just very focused, I understood what it was like, I understood what we really needed as a team." Horford said.
Horford's outburst is actually not accidental, the alphabet brother did inspire his fighting spirit, but more importantly, the Bucks' defensive style, everywhere reflects the disrespect for Horford. Uduka said after the game: "It was the Bucks' defensive approach that gave Horford a chance to score 30 points, and Da luo chose to recycle after each block, letting go of Horford, who might have cut outside, so we decided to find him." Throughout the game, Horford participated in a total of 28 blocks, and the Celtics scored 41 points.
The most exciting goal of the game also came from the blocking and dismantling cooperation between Horford and his teammates. He blocked Smart at 45 degrees on the right and faced Alphabet Brother's defensive Horford to break through and finally completed a dunk. Although this ball Horford was blown by the referee for some consequential actions, the referee was punished for a technical foul. But judging from the situation behind, the momentum of the Celtics team was completely changed because of this dunk.
"It's just one of those rounds. They tried hard to push it, so I seized the opportunity to kill it. "It was a crucial turn and obviously that ignited the mood in our team. ”
As Horford put it, while his 16 points in the final quarter were precious, more importantly, the veteran's dunk completely woke up the rest of the Celtics. In particular, Tatum and Smart, both of whom have not played so well before. Tatum even threw a poor performance of 4 of 19 in the last game. After Horford gave everything he could and topped the alphabet brother to complete that dunk, the Celtics showed a completely different energy no matter which end of the attack and defense.
Tatum began to be able to reach the inside to complete the scoring, and the three-pointer withdrew after holding the ball finally reappeared. Smart spared no effort on the defensive end, and the offensive end also scored a lot of goals in succession against Holliday's defense. "Horford has been in the league for a long time, he's played on the team, he knows what it takes to win in the playoffs and he's a good example for us." Smart said: "Horford is so important to us, he works hard every day, gives everyone encouragement and his performance today drives the team forward. ”
After beating the Bucks, the Celtics not only equalized the series aggregate score again, but also took home field advantage back to their side. In the last two games in Milwaukee, the rest of the team has played up and down, but Horford has always maintained stability, and maybe that's the value of the veteran.
"He's played really well all year, but we do need him to step up now. Horford did it, and he took the responsibility on his shoulders. Uduka said after the game.
The series is back in Boston, and it will be an even tougher challenge for Horford. On the one hand, Budenholzer, who has worked with Horford before, stressed after the game that he would find a way to reduce Horford's influence in the game. On the other hand, there was only a day between the fourth and fifth games, and the team had to fly back to Boston from Milwaukee, and Horford also needed to be tested physically.
But the veteran's will and determination are particularly firm, "we have no way back, we have to respond, we do this, we don't give up, we just keep moving forward." Horford said after the game.
At the same time, Horford's performance in this campaign may also ignite the morale of the Celtics' young players. After all, if this team wants to pass the defending championship, it still needs Tatum and Jaylen Brown to join forces. The future of the series will require them to take over the torch in Horford's hands and continue the wonderful fourth quarter of this game.
34+18！ No matter how strong the alphabet brother is, no one can defeat the Green Army
At one point in the second half of the third quarter, Giannis Antetokounmpo was going to swallow the Boston Celtics on his own. Facing the best defensive team in the league, he singled out Tatum for two points, then blocked the Green Army forward's attack one-on-one, and then hit the basket again.
Milwaukee roared at home to a tsunami of screams, and as Holliday hit a layup, the Bucks briefly led by 10 points. At that moment, the Celtics' face was full of despair, and the alphabet brother just muttered a celebration, he had 28 points, 16 rebounds and 3 assists when the third quarter was not finished. In this round of meat grinder duels, the Greek monsters have refreshed people's cognition again and again.
In the first two battles of the series, Alphabet Brother has dealt with different defensive strategies of the Green Army. G1 opponents chose to assist in the defense of Alphabet Brother, and the result did force him to shoot only 9 of 25 shots, but the Bucks core led the team to victory with 12 assists from his tandem teammates. The G2 Celtics switched to single-defense alphabet brothers, erecting two anti-alphabet armors for Horford and Gervay, and defending him with only 2 of 12 shots in the first half. Although Alphabet Brother increased aggressiveness in the second half, the team fell behind too much and was powerless to return to the sky. In G3, Alphabet Brother pulled the intensity of the attack from the beginning, supplemented by the Bucks' more targeted misplaced strategy, he shot 42 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists in 30 shots, breaking through the opponent's single defense.
Coming to today's battle, the two teams continue to play a game around the defense of the alphabet. The Bucks side still cleared the basket opportunity for the alphabet brother through blocking and disguising the defense and low position cover. The Green Army, while increasing the intensity of the confrontation, appropriately contracted in the last line, increasing the degree of interference when the alphabet brother shot under the basket.
After all, the Celtics have the league's top confrontation ability and resources, and they can still maximize the difficulty of the alphabet brother's shot. At half-time, the Greeks scored a 15+11 double-double, but he only hit 6 goals in 17 shots, which is not efficient. The Bucks were able to take the lead because they had ferocious frontcourt rebounds and made 11 more shots at halftime.
But another problem at that time was that no one in the Bucks could stand up and share the pressure for the alphabet brother. The Bucks Core has already played a series halftime high of 20 minutes and 26 seconds, and according to this script, his playing time will exceed 42 minutes. The Milwaukee team's shooting percentage in the first half was 35%, which is their most iron half in the playoffs so far, and in addition to the strong attack of the alphabet brother, the ability of others to create opportunities is more limited.
So when Alphabet Brother pulled out 13 points in the third quarter, the Bucks took the lead, but the Celtics didn't panic. On the contrary, Budenholzer's side, when he won the alphabet brother at the end of the third quarter, the team lost power in less than 2 minutes, and was chased back by the Green Army for 3 points, which made him once again forced to send the alphabet brother, and let him continue to play at the beginning of the final quarter - the line behind it is very clear, we have to hold the advantage.
But Horford's old and tough changed everything, he frantically responded to the Bucks' mid-range shots and three-pointers, and the Green Army flattened the point difference in the blink of an eye, which also meant that Alphabet Brother completely lost his chance to breathe. Turning over the statistics, he scored 6 points on 3-of-7 shooting in the last quarter, seemingly leaving more firepower in the third quarter.
With 34 points, 18 rebounds and five assists, the Bucks still handed over a dominant personal data, and he also became the third-most scoring player in NBA playoff history with 25+ consecutive points (15 games), behind only Chamberlain and Baylor. The 46.1% true shooting percentage is certainly not good, and he still has only 4 of 12 against Horford's main defense, but in such defensive hand-to-hand combat, the term efficiency can no longer be compared to the regular season numbers. Compared with Horford and Tatum, who cut 30+ on the opposite side, the Greeks have dealt with a significantly greater defensive intensity, and it is no problem to say that he is the first star so far in this round.
In fact, when Brother Alphabet was on the floor, the Bucks also won by one point, and in the 6 minutes and 57 seconds he rested, the team lost 9 points. One of the simplest assumptions is that if Alphabet Brother has the physical fitness to play a full 48 minutes, the home team may have the last laugh, but this is exactly the focus of the Celtics - the Bucks only have two reliable offensive starting points, Alphabet Brother and Holliday, and we have to continue to consume them until we can turn the tide of the game in one fell swoop.
In the past two home games, the Bucks have won 1 win and 1 loss, once again returning home field advantage to their opponents. Alphabet Brother's personal data is exaggerated enough, but the Bucks lost to their opponents by 11 and 15 points in the last quarter. How to distribute physical energy, how to use the dominance of the alphabet brother, these are the problems that Budenholzer needs to continue to think about. After all, the Celtics have proven time and again that they are not a team that can be defeated by one person.
Wen | Ji Mengnian Kong Dexin
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