National Basketball Association

Jayson Tatum, Celtics look dangerous after eliminating Bucks

Updated May. 16, 2022 3:50 p.m. ET

The Boston Celtics eliminated the defending NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks in a wild 109-81 blowout Sunday in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Grant Williams scored a career-high 27 points and hit seven 3-pointers, while Jayson Tatum added 23 points. The Celtics set a Game 7 record by downing 22 3-pointers on their way to securing a spot in the East finals.

Overall, it was a standout performance from the Celtics, while Giannis Antetokounmpo — who went just 3-for-11 in the paint in the second half — and the Bucks were at a virtual standstill.

On Monday's "First Things First," Nick Wright broke down what went right for Boston — Tatum's tenacity.

"The series was going the exact way I thought it would until the fourth quarter of Game 6 … [when] something very important happened. Newly minted superstar Jayson Tatum had his first true superstar moment of his career," Wright said.

"Jayson Tatum, in the first game of these playoffs, hit a buzzer-beating layup. Jayson Tatum, in the third game of these playoffs when Brooklyn was trying to get back into the series down 2-0, had 39 points and greatly outplayed Kevin Durant. And Jayson Tatum, facing elimination on the road against the best player alive, went toe-to-toe, shot-for-shot with him, and beat him."

On the other hand, NBA analyst Chris Broussard broke down what went wrong for Milwaukee.

"I told you that just because Giannis is the best player in the series, doesn't mean [the Bucks were] gonna win the series. I told you that the Bucks could not overcome the loss of Khris Middleton," he said.

"I told you that the basketball gods were punishing the Bucks for tanking the last game of the season to avoid Brooklyn … and they lost home-court advantage, and yesterday it came back to bite them."

Jayson Tatum, Celtics advance after Game 7 win

Chris Broussard praises Jayson Tatum for his perseverance in getting his team to this point and shares his predictions for their matchup against the Miami Heat.

Boston will aim to continue its hot streak, as the Celtics face the top-seeded Miami Heat beginning Tuesday in a rematch of the 2020 East finals.

On Monday's "Undisputed," Shannon Sharpe broke down why he's rolling with the Celtics.

"They're battle-tested," he said. "What impressed me is that they did something that no other team other [did]. Everybody else seemed to be scared of the 2-seed. … The Celtics said, ‘We want all that smoke.’"

"Now what they've done — two of the best players in basketball, they've beat them. They're going into this series with extreme confidence. … They got a lot of guys that can play a lot of different positions. Grant Williams, he can guard Jimmy Butler, he can guard Bam [Adebayo], he can do a lot of different things. So can Tatum, so can Marcus Smart, so can Jaylen Brown. I love the multifacetedness of their team."

Here's how the sports world reacted to the Celtics' win.