Terry Rozier and Eric Bledsoe spent seven games trash-talking through the media and pretending not to know each other’s names.
When it was over Tavon Austin Jersey , they gave each other a quick hug – and a smile.
”Just respect,” Rozier said after scoring a career playoff high 26 points in Game 7 against Bledsoe’s Bucks on Saturday night to help the Celtics beat Milwaukee 112-96 and advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals for the second straight year.
”You’ve got two guys that want to win, two chippy guys, two short point guards,” Rozier said. ”We were just out there having fun. If it takes for us to go back and forth, jawing back and forth to battle, push each other, that’s just part of the game. We talked after the game, no stuff.”
Rozier added nine assists, Al Horford had 26 points and eight rebounds, and even Giannis Antetokounmpo tipped in a basket for the Celtics, who will meet the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round.
Game 1 is in Boston on Monday night.
”We’re going to have to play great,” said Celtics coach Brad Stevens, who was already without would-be starters Gordon Heyward and Kyrie Irving when Jaylen Brown left Saturday’s game with a hamstring injury. ”That’s just another thing. Somebody else is going to have to step up and play great. But we’ll get ready.”
Khris Middleton scored 32 http://www.greenbaypackersteamonline.com/ty-montgomery-jersey , Bledsoe had 23 and Antetokounmpo had 22 points and nine rebounds for the Bucks. Milwaukee has advanced from the first round of the playoffs just once since 1989, losing nine straight playoff series since Ray Allen, Glenn Robinson and Sam Cassell brought George Karl to the Eastern Conference finals in 2001.
Jayson Tatum added 20 points for the Celtics, who rode the home-court advantage to win all four games in Boston.
”Wasn’t able to win on the road, but we pushed the series to Game 7,” Antetokounmpo said. ”A lot of the guys in the locker room have never been in Game 7s. It’s a new experience. Now we know now what it takes to win a Game 7. You’ve got to come out, hit first.”
Playing in their NBA-record 31st Game 7, the Celtics improved to 20-4 at home and 23-8 overall in best-of-seven clinchers. It was the second Game 7 at the TD Garden this week, with the Boston Bruins beating the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night to advance in the NHL playoffs.
”It’s more than you can imagine, just a great feeling,” Horford said. ”Our fans really gave us that energy. This is why you work so hard in the regular season, to put yourself with home-court advantage.”
BLEDSOE AND BLEDSOE
When he was at Louisville, Rozier was compared to Bledsoe, who had left Kentucky a few years earlier. But the two did their best to work up a friendly hatred during the series.
It started when Rozier referred to his Bucks counterpart as ”Drew Bledsoe” – confusing him with the former New England Patriots quarterback. Since then http://www.buffalobillsteamonline.com/ryan-groy-jersey , Bledsoe has pretended he doesn’t know who Rozier is.
Celtics fans joined in by chanting ”Who is Bledsoe!” in the first half. And during a fourth-quarter break, the scoreboard showed a video of Drew Bledsoe holding up one of his Patriots jerseys and proclaiming himself ”the original Bledsoe.”
”Man, that was special,” Rozier said. ”I don’t know who thought of that, but that was nice.”
FIRST HALF RUNS
Tatum had nine points in the first, when the Celtics scored 15 straight points – including a tip-in by Antetokounmpo into the Boston hoop – and 20 of the last 22 to end the quarter with a 30-17 lead. Milwaukee scored 11 in a row at the beginning of the second to make it a two-point game, but Boston answered with nine in a row to make it 41-30.
The Celtics led 50-42 at the half despite going 1-for-12 from 3-point range. Horford had 14 points and seven rebounds at the break, and Bledsoe had 12 points for the Bucks. But both Antetokounmpo and Bledsoe had three fouls at halftime.
Milwaukee cut the deficit to three points early in the third but Boston scored 11 of the last 15 points in the quarter. The Bucks never got within single digits in the fourth.
HAMMY TIME
Jaylen Brown limped off to the locker room late in the second quarter, then came out to test his sore right hamstring just before the start of the second half. But he left the floor and went back into the tunnel; after riding the stationary bike for a few minutes and getting checked out in the locker room, the team said he was available to return, but he did not.
”I was told that if we got in a pinch he could play,” Stevens said. ”I decided that’s not going to happen. With hamstrings – let’s see how he feels tomorrow.”
Brown said it was diagnosed as a Grade 1 sprain. He will have an MRI tomorrow.
”Whatever it takes. I wouldn’t miss this series for the world,” he said, vowing to be back for Game 1. ”That’s my goal.”
TIP-INS
Bucks: Have an 0-18 record in playoff series in which they’ve lost the first two games. They are 2-8 in Game 7s. … Bledsoe picked up a technical foul in the first quarter after complaining about a foul call. … C John Henson missed his fifth straight game with a sore back. … Scored zero points on fast breaks.
Celtics: Hayward Taron Johnson Jersey , Irving and Daniel Theis were all at the game. Theis, who has been out since March 11, recovered enough from left knee surgery to ditch his crutches for the first time on Friday. … Also in the crowd: Red Sox owner John Henry and Patriots owner Robert Kraft. … Red Sox manage Winnipeg already was gripped by playoff fever. Now, with the Jets in the Western Conference final, the temperature is rising further.
Jets merchandise is flying off shelves, downtown office workers are decked out in team jerseys and organizers must cap attendance at 20,000 for street parties on game nights.
The passion surpasses that of the glory days of 40 years ago when the Jets were champions of the World Hockey Association. Stars of that team are in town this week to join the festivities.
”I don’t recollect any sporting event … bringing the fans into the downtown area and into the excitement that there is today,” Joe Daley, the 1978 squad’s goalie, said before the Jets hosted Game 1 against the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday. ”I think it’s unbelievable what’s going on.”
Anders Hedberg, the right wing who notched 63 goals in 1978 and later returned to his native Sweden, told The Canadian Press he’s not surprised by how fans in the NHL’s smallest market have filled the arena and the streets.
”The relationship to the game is the closest here of all the teams in the National Hockey League,” he said.
The street parties feature fans dressing up in white, watching on big screens next to the arena and listening to onstage entertainment.
Organizers said Friday that for the rest of the playoffs Randall Cobb Jersey , attendance will be capped and fans must get free tickets in advance if they want to get in. By Friday afternoon, some online ads were offering to resell those free tickets at $25 or more.
Fans can even taste the excitement. A chocolate maker has started selling Jets-themed chocolates in the shape of pucks.
The feeling has been a long time coming for Winnipeg. The Canadian Football League Blue Bombers haven’t won a championship since 1990 and the original Jets never made it this far before leaving for Phoenix in 1996.
The new version of the Jets relocated from Atlanta in 2011 and was swept in the opening round in 2015, the team’s only playoff appearance before this year.
”The entire city, you can really feel the energy,” said Josh Drury, who along with his wife splits time between home in Winnipeg and running a business in Las Vegas. His loyalty lies completely with the Jets.
”This is really uncharted territory. … Winnipeg sports fans are kind of used to disappointment,” he said.
Daley continued to live in Winnipeg after his playing days. He says this playoff run is great for the city.
”We forget about all the shortcomings that everybody else in Canada thinks we have as a city,” he said. ”Right now, we’re No. 1 in Canada.”
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21.09.2018 07:57
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