Moments make the NBA special.
Whether it’s a poster dunk or a game-winning three, moments are what make the game come to life. It’s what fans wait for each and every game—the moment that sends a shot of serotonin coursing through their body. There’s nothing like witnessing an incredible moment in person.
But sometimes, critical moments are hidden in plain sight.
As the Boston Celtics battled the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night, both sides were getting their hits in. Giannis Antetokounmpo bowled over everybody without the name “Horford” on the back of their jersey, and Payton Pritchard was tearing it up from long range. It was a back-and-forth contest for 34 minutes straight.
Then, in three individual moments, the game was over. None of them occurred in the fourth quarter, and all three ensued in a descension of plays: Three from Derrick White, two from Jordan Walsh, and one from Pritchard.
Three Celtics moments decided the game.
Derrick White, Jordan Walsh, and Payton Pritchard: The three moments that helped the Celtics beat the Bucks
With 2:43 to go in the third, Jrue Holiday missed a layup at the end of the shot clock. It clanked off the backboard and rim before he corralled the rebound. Only the referee didn’t see it that way. He called a 24-second violation.
Holiday and the entire Celtics team immediately burst into a screaming match. They had already had issues with the officials throughout the course of the game, and this was the cherry on top.
Boston had no challenges left, so the call stood. And as Joe Mazzulla was discussing it with the ref who made the call, Tony Brothers shot out of a cannon from the other side of the court and hit the Celtics with a delay-of-game call—their second of the game—resulting in a technical foul.
Once again, the Celtics were furious, but they used the anger to spearhead the trio of moments that won them the contest.
“No frustration,” Mazzulla said post-game. “We were just like, 'Let's just try to create as much chaos as we can.' That was it.”
“That's what we felt like the environment needed at the time. Just create chaos. So, we were just gonna create it. Created the chaos together, went through the chaos together. Responded pretty well.”
In this instance, White was the chaos.
After Damian Lillard sunk the technical free throw, Bobby Portis got called for a traveling violation. Jayson Tatum missed a three on the other end, but Pritchard grabbed the board and kicked it out to White, who nailed a three.
Another botched Portis possession saw Boston come down the other end and put the ball right back in White’s hands. He nailed a second triple.
And when Antetokounmpo went to force the issue himself, White was there to meet him on the drive. He got the block, and TD Garden was buzzing.
Three: Bucket, bucket, block.
Moment 1.
Pritchard pushed the pace after White’s monstrous block. He pulled up in transition and missed the shot, but that’s far from the full story.
As Pritchard left his feet to shoot, Walsh was at half-court.
By the time the ball bounced off the rim, Walsh had outpaced Taurean Prince and Bobby Portis. He flew through the air and drew a foul on Prince, keeping possession for the Celtics.
“I told that to Jordan in the locker room, I think just finding out a role and making big-time plays like that is huge,” Mazzulla said.
On the very next play, White got an open three, but it didn’t fall. Antetokounmpo and Portis were both in the paint, ready to pounce on the glass, but neither got the chance.
Instead, Walsh soared in from the corner, beating both of them, and earned himself a put-back bucket.
“Credit to him being ready,” Jaylen Brown said of Walsh. “Big Game, big moment for young player. Playing against a potential playoff team matchup. I thought he added and contributed to us gettinga win tonight.”
The crowd erupted once more as Boston’s run rolled on thanks to a pair of hustle plays from the second-year Celtic.
Two: Crash, put-back.
Moment 2.
Walsh’s put-back went in with 51 seconds left on the third-quarter clock. It added to White’s personal 6-0 run, bringing the Celtics from down one (after Lillard’s technical free throw) to up by seven in under two minutes.
Two straight empty possessions were followed by a bad Tatum foul that sent Pat Connaughton to the charity stripe. He sunk them both, cutting the lead back down to five with seven seconds left in the quarter.
The shot clock was off at that point. The quarter was coming to a close. At that point, there was only one man who was ever going to have the ball in his hands.
“Payton Pritchard happened,” Rivers said of Pritchard’s 28-point performance. “Honestly, it’s so funny—it’s not—but this morning, I literally circled his name. It’s like, this guy comes in, and he’s the game-changer.”
As the second wound down on the clock, Pritchard dribbled the ball up the right side of the floor. Delon Wright sprinted alongside him, following him stride for stride.
The thousands of fans at TD Garden began murmuring to themselves. Some rose to their feet. Some put their hands up in anticipation. Everyone knew what was about to happen. Wright knew it. The Celtics bench knew it. TD Garden knew it. And most importantly, Pritchard knew it.
He crossed half-court at the four-second mark, side-stepped at three, and fired at two.
Nylon.
One: Pritchard happened.
Moment 3.
“What he does speaks for itself,” Brown said. “Payton, he's a killer.”
In what seemed like an instant, the Celtics went from angrily defending an awful 24-second call to up by eight heading into the fourth quarter.
Three moments—one three-pronged, one two-pronged, and one standalone shot—changed the course of the entire game.
White’s two threes were a matchbook, and his block on Antetokounmpo grabbed a stick from the pack.
Walsh’s drawn foul cracked the match against the side, and his put-back poured gasoline all over the TD Garden crowd.
Pritchard’s three lit it ablaze.
The decibels in the arena steadily climbed in those final minutes of the third quarter, and there was nothing the Bucks could do to bounce back.
Moments define games. And Milwaukee learned that the hard way.