The Milwaukee Bucks' dreams of back-to-back NBA Championships were dashed in a deciding seventh game with the Boston Celtics at TD Garden on Sunday night.
Following a pattern of winning one then drawing one in the Eastern Conference semi-final series, the Bucks stormed into a first-quarter lead before the Celtics came charging back.
Posting 28-17, 31-21 and 30-17 successes in the second, third and fourth quarters, a Grant Williams-inspired Celtics side condemned the reigning champions to a heavy defeat in front of the home crowd.
Ime Udoka's team marched to a 109-81 victory to set up a Conference Finals showdown with the Miami Heat, with Williams a commanding figure in the Celtics' success.
The 23-year-old enjoyed a personal record-breaking encounter with 27 points on the day, while he also made seven of his 19 three-pointer attempts to write his name into the history books.
Only three times before has a player scored seven three-pointers during a Game 7 in the NBA playoffs - matching Stephen Curry (2) and Marcus Morris's previous endeavours.
Furthermore, 18 attempts at three-pointers also represents a new Game 7 record, and praise was lavished onto Williams from all corners as the Celtics advanced to the Finals.
"Grant won us a playoff game tonight. A Game 7," Jayson Tatum - who notched up 23 points of his own on the night - told the press after the game, as quoted by ESPN.
"He came up big. He played amazing. In the playoffs, you need that. You need guys coming off the bench to be a star in their role."
Celtics coach Udoka added: "I told him let it fly. They are disrespecting you more tonight than they were earlier in the series. That was their plan on him and other guys, really shifting and making them try to beat us. You saw it on the first one he made.
"I basically said shoot the ball. What else can you do? Stop driving into the crowd. Shoot the shot that they are giving you."
Williams himself admitted that his coach's words were difficult to get his head around, but the former Tennessee college star soon found his groove when presented with the opportunity to shoot.
"It's tough to get into your head when your entire team, like 15 people, walk up to you and say keep shooting. It was just like, they are encouraging it so it was like, might as well take advantage of each one," Williams added.
Giannis Antetokounmpo led the way for the Bucks and came ever so close to completing a triple-double with 25 points, 20 rebounds and nine assists for the dethroned champions. body check tags ::
