Bucks beat Celtics to advance to East Final

The Bucks are headed to their first Eastern Conference Finals appearance since 2001 after beating the Celtics 4-1 in the second round. Giannis Antetokounmpo paced Milwaukee with 20 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

Kyrie Irving led Boston in scoring with 15 points in the final game of the season — now, eyes turn towards Irving’s impending free agency.

After sweeping Detroit in the first round, top-seeded Milwaukee struggled in Game 1 against Boston and lost 112-90 in one of its worst offensive performances of the season. But Antetokounmpo led the way as the Bucks responded with four straight wins by a combined 65 points.

“I think our mindset changed,” Antetokounmpo said. “In the first game, we weren’t focused enough. We weren’t ourselves. The next four games, we came out with a different approach, a different mindset.”

The Bucks used a balanced attack to close out the Celtics in Game 5, placing seven players in double figures. Khris Middleton had 19 points and eight rebounds, and Eric Bledsoe finished with 18 points. “We didn’t mess around with the game,” Antetokounmpo said. “We did our job. We defended. We moved the ball.”

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Next up for the Bucks is the winner of the Philadelphia-Toronto series. The Raptors are up 3-2 heading into Game 6 on Thursday night.

The Celtics clamped down on Antetokounmpo for most of the game, but Middleton, Bledsoe, Hill and Nikola Mirotic picked up the scoring to help rob the game of any drama in the final minutes.

Hill finished with 16 points, and Mirotic had 10 points and 11 rebounds. Malcolm Brogdon also had 10 points in his return to the lineup after being sidelined by plantar fasciitis.

“Everybody was ready to play,” Hill said. “Everybody was ready for the opportunity to put them away as quick as we can.”

Irving scored 15 points for Boston, which shot 31.2% from the field. Jayson Tatum and Marcus Morris each had 14.

Celtics coach Brad Stevens was impressed with the Bucks. “They are one helluva basketball team,” he said. “They were tremendous. They are better than we are. They earned it.”

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