By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Boston Celtics erased their double-digit deficit against the Milwaukee Bucks to complete the Game 4 comeback win, 116-108, and tied their Eastern Conference semifinals series while the Golden State Warriors moved one win away from another Western Conference finals trip after surviving the gritty Memphis Grizzlies team, 101-98.
After going down by as much as 11 points heading into the final canto, the Boston Celtics turned to their veteran and ever-reliable center Al Horford who just put on a masterful performance against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Horford was unstoppable in the last 12 minutes of the ball game and scored 16 fourth-quarter points to set a new playoff career-high with 30 points, eight rebounds, and three assists.
The veteran center spearheaded Boston’s comeback and helped them regain the lead after a monstrous slam dunk over Giannis Antetokounmpo with 9:50 remaining in the ball game.
Milwaukee continued to fight and setup the Celtics into a dog fight but superstar scorer Jayson Tatum provided the finishing touches including a crucial circus layup that extended their lead to nine, 108-99, in the final two-minute stretch of the intense game.
Tatum backstopped Horford with the same amount of point production and grabbed 13 rebounds while dishing out five perfect dimes.
Marcus Smart’s clutch buckets in their final three possessions sealed the huge win for the Celtics and will go back to their home court with the series deadlocked at 2-2.
Meanwhile, in the Western Conference, the Golden State Warriors avoided a home-court loss against the Memphis Grizzlies without the presence of superstar Ja Morant who sat out due to an injury he suffered in Game 3.
The young and gritty Grizzlies squad pushed the Warriors until the final buzzer of the game who played consistently through four quarters.
Memphis led by eight with 7:55 left in the final canto but former MVP Stephen Curry flipped the switch and got hot at the right time for their final comeback.
Playing catchup and with the Grizzlies leading by one, 93-92, with 45 seconds left, Curry iced the game with eight straight free throws to give Golden State the lead, 100-95.
Andrew Wiggins then buried the last charity stripe shot to push Golden State’s lead to six, 101-95, with four seconds remaining in the game.
