Jayson Tatum scored 10 of his game-high 46 points in a key fourth-quarter sequence and teammates Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart added key hoops as the Boston Celtics held off the host Milwaukee Bucks 108-95 (28-26, 25-17, 29-27, 26-25) on Friday night to force a Game 7 in their Eastern Conference semifinal playoff series.
Brown finished with 22 points and Smart 21 for the second-seeded Celtics, who continued a trend in the series by winning for a second time on Milwaukee's home floor.
Game 7 will be held Sunday at Boston, where the Bucks have two earlier wins in three tries in the series.
After erasing a late 14-point deficit to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven with a win at Boston on Wednesday, the third-seeded Bucks found themselves down 84-70 with 11:25 to go this time before mounting their comeback.
Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Bucks' leading scorer with 44 points, had a three-point play, two free throws, and a 3-pointer in an 11-1 burst that cut the Milwaukee deficit to 85-81 with 8:42 remaining. But this time it was the Celtics who made the decisive late push.