NBA playoffs: Golden State humiliated, Giannis stars as Bucks steal it late

Injured star Ja Morant was living it up on the sideline as he watched Memphis utterly destroy Golden State in the playoffs.

Ja Morant loved what he saw. Andy Lyons/Getty Images/AFP

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 40 points and Bobby Portis came up big late as reigning NBA champions Milwaukee Bucks rallied for a 110-107 win in Boston to push the Celtics to the brink of playoff elimination.

In Thursday’s other playoff game, Memphis annihilated Golden State 134-95 to stay in their series, dragging it back to 2-3 in the best-of-seven contest.

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Making the Grizzlies’ huge win even more remarkable is that they completed the rout without superstar Ja Morant. At one stage in the third quarter Memphis were ahead by a staggering 45 points — the largest playoff lead ever by a team facing elimination — before running away with a result that stunned the league.

Morant, out injured, was seen openly laughing courtside.

Ja Morant was enjoying the show. Andy Lyons/Getty Images/AFP

wtf going on in this Golden State game 😂😂😂

— Mark Phillips (@SupremeDreams_1) May 12, 2022

.@memgrizz 👀 pic.twitter.com/8B07OnWkJ6

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 12, 2022

Trying to figure out why the Grizzlies are the best basketball team to ever exist when Ja Morant is out pic.twitter.com/VLXS7TfPBU

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) May 12, 2022

In Boston meanwhile, reserve forward Portis put back Antetokounmpo’s missed free throw with 11.4 seconds remaining to give the Bucks a 108-107 lead.

Jrue Holiday plucked an attempted shot by Marcus Smart from the air with 8.1 seconds remaining before teammate Pat Connaughton added a pair of free throws to seal the comeback triumph for a Bucks team that trailed by 14 early in the fourth quarter.

Milwaukee took a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference series, and will have a chance to close it out when they host game six on Saturday.

Two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Antetokounmpo led the way with 40 points and 11 rebounds.

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined for 60 points for the Celtics, who took control with a 28-19 second quarter that saw them take a 54-47 halftime lead.

They maintained the edge throughout the third, but the Bucks didn’t back down. Connaughton’s three-pointer with 7:34 to play cut the deficit to 98-90 and Holiday added a jump shot to cut the margin to 101-99.

Three-pointers from Antetokounmpo and Holiday knotted the score at 105-105 with 43.2 seconds left, setting the stage for a dramatic finish.

“It takes a little bit of everything to flip a 13 or 14-point game,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said.

Holiday added 24 points for Milwaukee while Portis scored 14 and Connaughton 13 off the bench.

“We just fell apart, execution-wise, down the stretch,” said Smart, who scored 15 points for Boston.

“We just didn’t do what we were supposed to do. We didn’t execute when we were supposed to and when it mattered the most, they did.”

Giannis Antetokounmpo was unstoppable as usual. Maddie Malhotra/Getty Images/AFP

Originally published as NBA playoffs: Golden State humiliated, Giannis stars as Bucks steal it late