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      It’s a Long Leap From Sports Team Owner to U.S. Senator

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      Alex Lasry, son of a majority owner of the Milwaukee Bucks, learned there’s a difference between making fans happy and appealing to voters.MILWAUKEE — When Alex Lasry dropped out of the Democratic primary for Senate in Wisconsin on Wednesday, he said “there was no path to victory,” something no owner of a sports franchise ever wants to admit. He said he had concluded he could not beat Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes and urged voters to rally behind Barnes to defeat the Republican incumbent, Senator Ron Johnson, in November.Lasry, 35, is a son of a billionaire owner of the Milwaukee Bucks, and has an ownership stake of his own valued at more than $50 million. He made the team, the 2021 N.B.A. champion, the centerpiece of his campaign by playing up the work he had done as a Bucks executive to help build Fiserv Forum and deliver higher wages to union workers. He frequently donned Bucks quarter zips, vests and other gear. He even traveled around the state with the N.B.A. trophy, drawing criticism for using it as a campaign prop.There are plenty of former athletes and coaches who have made the jump from the playing field or the sideline to Capitol Hill: Bill Bradley, J.C. Watts, Tom Osborne and, more recently, Tommy Tuberville.But it is much less common for the owners of sports franchises, whose faces are not so familiar, to inspire the same level of electoral fandom.Lasry’s wife, Lauren, held their daughter, Eleanor, as he spoke with a fairgoer. A native of Manhattan, he moved to Milwaukee in 2014 to work as a Bucks executive.Sara Stathas for The New York TimesSome owners have had a hard time keeping sports out of the conversation. During his unsuccessful Republican primary campaign for Senate in Ohio, Matt Dolan, whose family owns the Cleveland Guardians, was lambasted by former President Donald J. Trump over the team’s decision to change its name from the Indians, which Trump mocked as a sop to the politically correct.And in Georgia, Kelly Loeffler attacked the Black Lives Matter movement, so incensing members of the W.N.B.A. team she owned at the time, the Atlanta Dream, that they campaigned against her. She lost her Senate seat to Raphael Warnock, whose 2022 opponent is Herschel Walker, the former N.F.L. running back.Senator Herb Kohl of Wisconsin, a previous owner of the Bucks, was a rare team owner who made it to Washington. But he was already a known quantity through his family’s grocery and department stores and as chair of the state Democratic Party.“Herb Kohl put in the legwork,” said State Senator Chris Larson, a Milwaukee County Democrat who dropped out of the primary last August and endorsed Barnes. “Lasry and his family were just trying to come in and buy that.”Alex Lasry grew up in Manhattan as a son of Marc Lasry, a hedge fund manager and Democratic fund-raiser. A star point guard for his high school team who continues to play pickup basketball regularly, Alex Lasry moved to Milwaukee in 2014, after his father was part of a group that purchased the Bucks that year from Kohl for $550 million.Marc Lasry, center, celebrated after the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Phoenix Suns to win the 2021 N.B.A. championship at Fiserv Forum.Jonathan Daniel/Getty ImagesWhen he began his Senate candidacy in February 2021, Alex Lasry had to overcome skepticism that his résumé was light on accomplishments and heavy on nepotism. By late June, he had surged to a clear second in a crowded field of longtime politicians, according to a Marquette Law School survey. He had also lined up an impressive roster of supporters — including Cavalier Johnson, the mayor of Milwaukee — as well as labor leaders who credited him with being a strong community presence.“I find him very easy to talk to, very down to earth,” said Daniel Bukiewicz, president of the Milwaukee Building & Construction Trades Council.Lasry largely self-funded his campaign, pouring $12.3 million into it even though he initially said he would depend on grass-roots support. In the second quarter of 2022, his campaign spent $6.7 million — or more than his Democratic rivals combined.He also had some notable donors from the sports world, like Jerry Reinsdorf and Michael Reinsdorf of the Chicago Bulls, who were beaten by the Bucks in the playoffs this year, and Stephen Pagliuca and David Bonderman, owners of the Boston Celtics, the team that bounced the Bucks from the playoffs. Other contributors were Adam Silver, the N.B.A. commissioner; Jason Kidd, the Bucks coach when Lasry arrived in Milwaukee; Casey Close, a prominent sports agent; and Rachel Nichols, a former ESPN broadcaster.Alex Lasry, left, celebrated with Tom Perez, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and Tom Barrett, mayor of Milwaukee, in March 2019 after the announcement that the Democratic National Convention would be held at Fiserv Forum. Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, via Associated PressOn his Senate disclosure form, filed in August 2021, Lasry listed $100 million to $273 million in assets. One investment was his partnership in Sazes Partners, a family holding company, records show.Through Sazes, Lasry reported owning $5 million to $25 million of Sessa Capital, a private equity fund. John Petry, the founder of Sessa Capital, has played in charity poker tournaments with Marc Lasry to benefit Education Reform Now, a nonprofit advocacy group.The Lasry family’s ties to Sazes did not become public before he quit the race, but they might have caused a stir if they had. Sessa is the fourth-biggest shareholder in Chemours, a manufacturer of PFAS, which have been linked to cancer and are often called “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down in water. Chemours is among the companies being sued for environmental contamination — including, last week, by Gov. Tony Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul of Wisconsin.Asked last week about Lasry’s substantial family stake in a major Chemours shareholder, Christina Freundlich, a campaign spokeswoman, said that Lasry applauded the efforts of Evers and Kaul “holding any and all polluters accountable” and that he has urged Congress to establish PFAS regulations.No matter. By Wednesday it was game over. At a news conference in front of the Fiserv Forum, Barnes praised Lasry’s campaign, saying he departs without having made any new enemies.That’s a notable achievement for a politician or a sports owner.Kitty Bennett More

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      Boston Celtics Dominate Milwaukee Bucks in Game 7 Win

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      Boston, with a surprise 27 points from Grant Williams, led by as many as 28. The Celtics will face the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals.BOSTON — It was no secret that Grant Williams was hesitating when he had open looks from the 3-point arc. The Milwaukee Bucks were offering him acres of real estate on Sunday afternoon, but Williams had reached the point, after a few early misses, when he was questioning himself. Doubt had crept in. His Celtics teammates told him to knock it off.“It’s tough to get into your own head when 15 people walk up to you saying: ‘Let it fly. Keep shooting,’ ” Williams recalled.Emboldened by their support, Williams decided to do what they told him to do. It hardly mattered that it was Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, or that the Celtics were facing one of the planet’s best players in Giannis Antetokounmpo, or that Williams had drifted in and out of the team’s rotation last season. It was his job to shoot. So he suppressed his nerves and delivered in a big way as the Celtics went about their business of eliminating the N.B.A.’s reigning champions.“We just said: ‘Why not now? Why not put it together?’ ” Williams said.In a tightly contested series that was stretched to its limit, the Celtics added to their season-long comeback story by defeating the Bucks, 109-81. They will face the top-seeded Miami Heat in the conference finals beginning Tuesday. It was not necessarily surprising that Boston won — the Celtics were a deeper, more explosive team than the Bucks — but no one expected Williams, a third-year forward, to clinch the series by scoring 27 points or by shooting 7 of 18 from 3-point range or by outshining Antetokounmpo.Anyone who predicted as much two weeks ago?“I would’ve called you a liar for sure,” the Celtics’ Jaylen Brown said.Jayson Tatum had 23 points for the Celtics in the win. Winslow Townson/USA Today Sports, via ReutersThen again, the playoffs have a way of pushing unsung actors into starring roles. On Sunday, the Celtics turned to Williams, an understudy no more as the Bucks crowded the paint on defense to cut off avenues to the rim. Ime Udoka, the Celtics’ first-year coach, told Williams that the Bucks were disrespecting him by leaving him so open. Brown resorted to yelling at him: Shoot the ball!“That’s what they were giving us,” Brown said. “He came through, man.”Last month, Nets guard Kyrie Irving told reporters that the Celtics’ window was now. And he made that proclamation even before the Nets’ first-round series with the Celtics ended. It ended soon enough, as the Celtics completed a four-game sweep.Irving and Kevin Durant in the first round? Antetokounmpo in the conference semifinals? By now, the Celtics are fearless. And make no mistake, their series with Milwaukee posed a big challenge, especially after they blew a 14-point lead to lose Game 5 at home. Facing elimination on the road in Game 6, they sailed to a win behind Jayson Tatum’s 46 points, setting the stage for Game 7.“Two games where our season was on the line, and we didn’t want it to be over,” Brown said. “We didn’t overcome all the stuff we did earlier in the season for this to be it.”Their whole season has been a test. The Celtics had a losing record in late January, before they found their chemistry. They began sharing the ball. They played tenacious defense. Tatum and Brown started to fulfill their twin-pronged potential as the Celtics emerged as the league’s best team over the second half of the regular season.They made a statement by sweeping the Nets. They showed it was no fluke against the Bucks. Now, they will face the East’s best regular-season team with a trip to the N.B.A. finals on the line.“I’d be dumb to say I don’t feel a little banged up, but everybody does this time of year,” Williams said.Antetokounmpo, a two-time winner of the N.B.A.’s Most Valuable Player Award, inflicted a lot of that damage. Because the Bucks were without the floor-spacing presence of Khris Middleton, the All-Star forward, who was sidelined for the series with a sprained left knee, Antetokounmpo had to shoulder even more of the load than usual. On Sunday, that meant collecting 25 points, 20 rebounds and 9 assists.Giannis Anteokounmpo did a lot of everything for the Bucks in Game 7 — 25 points, 20 rebounds, 9 assists — but it wasn’t enough for the win.Adam Glanzman/Getty ImagesBut there were moments — small moments — when seven games of nonstop aggression seemed to have taken a toll. After Antetokounmpo missed a 3-pointer in the opening seconds of the second half, he got the ball back for a finger-roll layup that he left on the front of the rim. As the ball caromed out of bounds, Antetokounmpo doubled over in disbelief: How? How had he missed? How was it possible?“It felt like we started to grind him down a little bit tonight,” Udoka said, adding: “It’s an extremely hard task because of the way he attacks and doesn’t settle.”As the Celtics’ lead swelled, the fourth quarter turned into a party that masqueraded as the closing minutes of a playoff game, replete with rhythmic chants from the crowd: “Beat the Heat! Beat the Heat!”The Celtics did most of their damage from behind the 3-point line, where they shot 22 of 55. The Bucks were just 4 of 33. At his postgame news conference, Udoka scanned Milwaukee’s side of the box score and noticed all the zeros — from Jrue Holiday, from Pat Connaughton, from Grayson Allen. None made a 3-pointer. They combined for 15 attempts.Tatum, who had 23 points in the win, was struck by a different statistic: Williams’s 22 field-goal attempts.“I told him, ‘Don’t get used to that,’ ” Tatum said, laughing. “But obviously tonight we needed it.”Williams, who was a first-round draft pick out of Tennessee in 2019, has shaped himself into one of the Celtics’ more versatile players. His ability to shoot from the outside stretches defenses. And at 6-foot-6 and 236 pounds, he has the strength and agility to guard multiple positions. Against the Bucks, he helped out against Antetokounmpo, a thankless job.“He’s just relentless in his approach,” Brown said of Antetokounmpo.But Williams seemed to be determined to fight until the very end. The Celtics’ lead was 21 points in the fourth quarter when the Bucks’ Bobby Portis escaped in a transition and elevated for a dunk. But Williams met him at the rim and swatted the shot away. He turned to the crowd — his crowd — and pumped his fists.The stage belonged to him. More

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      Jayson Tatum Saves the Boston Celtics’ Season With 46 Points

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      Was it the 46 points? The crushing 3-pointers? The clutch free throws? Tatum, the Boston forward, was feeling it against the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday.There was a time when the Boston Celtics’ season seemed in danger of crumbling into a pile of fine dust. They had a losing record in late January. They were scuffling through a series of injuries. There were questions about whether Jayson Tatum could coexist with Jaylen Brown — was it time for the team to consider trading Brown? — along with inevitable critiques of Ime Udoka in his first season as coach.It is familiar history at this late stage of the season, but worth reiterating, especially now. Why? Because on Friday night, in the wake of a late-game meltdown earlier in the week, the Celtics were facing elimination in Milwaukee. Outside of their cocoon, as they braced themselves for Game 6, the questions swirled: Had they blown their chance? Could they somehow find the resolve to extend their Eastern Conference semifinal series with the Bucks?The Celtics, though, seem to embrace adversity. Perhaps they are conditioned to play at their best when everyone else thinks they are finished, a sandcastle about to be swept to sea. Down? Out? Their sandcastle is apparently reinforced with steel beams, and they proved as much with their 108-95 win.“This was a big moment for all of us,” Tatum said just minutes after assembling one of the finer individual performances of the N.B.A. postseason. “I think we showed a lot of toughness and growth.”There was no doubt about that after Tatum finished with 46 points and 9 rebounds to help even the series at three games apiece. In the process, he somehow overshadowed Giannis Antetokounmpo, who tried to drag the Bucks across the finish line with 44 points, 20 rebounds and 6 assists. It was a series that deserved a seventh game, and the Celtics delivered. Game 7 is on Sunday afternoon in Boston.“I believe in everyone in that locker room,” Tatum said. “We have what it takes.”Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) had a big night of his own: 44 points, 20 rebounds and 6 assists.Jeff Hanisch/USA Today Sports, via ReutersThe Miami Heat, who ousted the Philadelphia 76ers from the postseason on Thursday, are awaiting the winner in the Eastern Conference finals, with the opening game of that series set for Tuesday. The Heat must have been delighted to see the Celtics extend their series with the Bucks: Now those teams have time to bludgeon each other some more.“You got two juggernauts going at it,” the Celtics’ Marcus Smart said. “We’re beating each other up.”The Celtics are grateful to be in this position after collapsing in the fourth quarter of Game 5 on Wednesday. That game could have haunted them after they blew a 14-point lead. Smart, in particular, was furious with himself for making a couple of late-game gaffes. He recalled going straight to the team’s practice facility after the game, and then tossing and turning through two sleepless nights ahead of Game 6.“I feel like I let my team down,” he said.The good news, Udoka said, was that the Celtics had played well in Game 5 — until they stopped playing well. The winning components were there. And they were on display again in Game 6, this time for a full 48 minutes.Smart was terrific, finishing with 21 points and 7 assists without a turnover. Brown scored 22 points. And consider the contributions of Derrick White, a former Division II player and trade deadline acquisition who was all over the place in the final three minutes of the first half. He followed up a 3-pointer with a short jumper. He drew a charging foul on Antetokounmpo. And then he made two free throws, lifting the Celtics to a 10-point lead at halftime.But the reality was that Smart, Brown and White were a part of the supporting cast. The stage belonged to Tatum.“He went into another mode,” Smart said. “We seen it in his eyes.”From the start of the playoffs, when he christened the Celtics’ first-round series with the Nets with a game-winning layup, Tatum has gone about his business of elevating his stature as one of the league’s most ferociously skilled players.No, he has not been immune from the occasional clunker. In a narrow loss to Milwaukee in Game 3, he shot 4 of 19 from the field and missed all six of his 3-point attempts. But in the three games since, he has averaged 36.7 points, 9.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists while shooting 47 percent from the field.On Friday, Tatum played a brilliant all-around game. He did more than score. Coming out of a timeout in the third quarter, he stripped the Bucks’ Bobby Portis in the post, leading to a layup for Brown and a 17-point lead.Tatum also was able to counter everything that Antetokounmpo could throw at the Celtics, which was a lot. The Bucks were threatening in the fourth quarter when Antetokounmpo sank a 3-pointer. Tatum proceeded to score the Celtics’ next 10 points, a flurry capped by a deep 3-pointer over the top of the Bucks’ Pat Connaughton.“Obviously, I know when I have it going,” Tatum said. “You feel that rhythm.”No one is counting out Milwaukee, of course. The Bucks are the defending champions, and Antetokounmpo is capable of intergalactic feats. But without the floor-spacing presence of Khris Middleton, an All-Star forward who has been sidelined with a sprained left knee, Antetokounmpo has had to do even more Antetokounmpo things than usual.He clearly needs more help from his teammates on Sunday, especially against the likes of Tatum, a star in his own right.Now, after a season of surviving and growing, the Celtics see nothing but opportunity ahead of them.“We still have a chance,” Udoka said, “to make it a better story.” More

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      Bob Lanier, a Dominant Center of the 1970s and ’80s, Dies at 73

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      Playing for the Detroit Pistons and the Milwaukee Bucks, he held his own against titans of the era like Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Willis Reed.Bob Lanier, who as a center for the Detroit Pistons and Milwaukee Bucks in the 1970s and ’80s parlayed a deft left-handed hook shot, a soft midrange jumper and robust rebounding skills into a Hall of Fame career, died on Tuesday in Phoenix. He was 73.The N.B.A. said he died after a short illness but provided no other details.Lanier, who stood 6-foot-11 and weighed about 250 pounds, excelled in an era of dominant centers like Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Nate Thurmond and Wes Unseld.“Guys didn’t change teams as much, so when you were facing the Bulls or the Bucks or New York, you had all these rivalries,” he told NBA.com in 2018. “Lanier against Jabbar! Jabbar against Willis Reed! And then Chamberlain and Artis Gilmore and Bill Walton! You had all these great big men, and the game was played from inside out.”He added: “It was a rougher game, a much more physical game that we played in the ’70s. You could steer people with elbows. They started cutting down on the number of fights by fining people more. Oh, it was a rough ’n’ tumble game.”As a Pistons rookie in the 1970-71 season, Lanier shared time at center with Otto Moore. In his second season, as a full-time starter, he averaged 25.7 points and 14.2 rebounds a game, putting him in the league’s top 10 in both categories.“He understood the small nuances of the game,” Dave Bing, a Pistons teammate and fellow Hall of Famer, said in a video biography of Lanier shown on Fox Sports Detroit in 2012. “He could shoot the 18-to-20-footer as well as any guard. He had a hook shoot — nobody but Kareem had a hook shot like him. He could do anything he wanted to do.”Lanier wore what were believed to be size 22 sneakers. In 1989, however, a representative of Converse disputed that notion, saying that they were in fact size 18 ½. Whatever their actual size, a pair of Lanier’s sneakers, bronzed, is in the collection of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.During nine full seasons with the Pistons, Lanier played in seven All-Star Games. He was elected most valuable player of the 1974 All-Star Game, in which he led all scorers with 24 points.But the Pistons had only four winning seasons during his time with the team and never advanced very far in the playoffs. The roster was often in flux. Coaches came and went. Lanier dealt with knee injuries and other physical setbacks.“It was like a life unfulfilled,” he told Fox Sports Detroit.In early 1980, with the Pistons’ record at 14-40, the team traded Lanier to the Milwaukee Bucks for a younger center, Kent Benson, and a first-round 1980 draft pick. Frustrated by the Pistons’ lack of success, Lanier had asked to be sent to a playoff contender.“I’m kind of relieved, but I’m kind of sad, too,” he told The Detroit Free Press. “I’ve got a lot of good memories of Detroit.”Lanier averaged 22.7 points and 11.8 rebounds a game with the Pistons.Lanier in his college years at St. Bonaventure, resting during a game against Marquette in 1969. A pair of his exceptionally large sneakers is in the collection of the Basketball Hall of Fame.AP PhotoRobert Jerry Lanier Jr. was born on Sept. 10, 1948, in Buffalo to Robert and Nannie Lanier. Young Bob was 6-foot-5 by the time he was a sophomore in high school, and he played well enough there to be wooed by dozens of colleges. He chose St. Bonaventure University in upstate Allegany, N.Y.He was a sensation there, averaging 27.6 points and 15.7 rebounds over three seasons.In 1970, the Bonnies defeated Villanova to win the East Regional finals of the N.C.A.A. men’s basketball tournament, sending them to the Final Four. But Lanier injured his knee during the game, forcing the Bonnies to face Jacksonville in the national semifinal game without him. St. Bonaventure lost, 91-83.“I didn’t even know at the time I tore my knee up,” Lanier told The Buffalo News in 2007. “But when I ran back down the court and tried to pivot, my leg collapsed. I didn’t know at the time I had torn my M.C.L.”Lanier was still recuperating from knee surgery when the Pistons chose him No. 1 overall in the N.B.A. draft; he was also chosen No. 1 by the New York (now Brooklyn) Nets of the American Basketball Association. He quickly signed with Detroit.Although he had statistically better years with the Pistons, Lanier enjoyed more team success with the Bucks (and also played in one more All-Star Game). Under Coach Don Nelson, the Bucks won 60 games during the 1980-81 season, and they advanced to the Eastern Conference finals in 1982-83 and 1983-84.Lanier was also president of the players’ union, the National Basketball Players Association, and helped negotiate a collective bargaining agreement in 1983 that avoided a strike.Lanier at an N.B.A. roundtable discussion before Game 5 of the 2005 finals between the Pistons and the San Antonio Spurs. In retirement, he worked with the N.B.A. as a global ambassador and special assistant to the commissioner.Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE via Getty ImagesEarly in the 1983-84 season, his last as a player, Lanier became angry with Bill Laimbeer, the Pistons’ center, for riling him under the boards at the Silverdome in Pontiac, Mich. Lanier retaliated with a left hook that leveled Laimbeer and broke his nose.The act not only earned Lanier a $5,000 fine; it also delayed the retirement of his No. 16 jersey by the Pistons until 1993. The Bucks retired his number in late 1984.He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992.In retirement, he owned a marketing firm and worked extensively with the N.B.A. as a global ambassador and special assistant to David Stern, the league’s longtime commissioner, and Adam Silver, his successor. Lanier was also an assistant coach under Nelson with the Golden State Warriors during the 1994-95 season and replaced him as interim coach for the final 37 games of the season after Nelson’s resignation.Information on survivors was not immediately available.Lanier said that after he retired, he was less likely to be recognized by the public than when he was a player. After Shaquille O’Neal, one of the league’s most dominating centers, came along in the early 1990s, people figured he must have been O’Neal’s father, he told NBA.com in 2018.“‘You’re wearing them big shoes,’” he said people would tell him. “I just go along with it. ‘Yeah, I’m Shaq’s dad.’” More

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      Celtics’ Horford Turns Back the Clock and the Bucks

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      Horford, Boston’s 35-year-old center, delivered 30 points and one big dunk as the Celtics tied their series, 2-2.Early in the second half of Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Monday night, Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Milwaukee Bucks star, rumbled down the floor and dunked the ball on Al Horford, the 35-year-old Boston Celtics center who has been tasked with slowing him down.The Bucks had all the momentum in the game and were on the verge of putting the Celtics on the ropes in the series.And then Antetokounmpo, the two-time Most Valuable Player Award winner, miscalculated. He followed up his dunk by staring daggers at Horford and received a technical for taunting. Horford stared right back, nodding his head several times.Giannis got a tech for this.. pic.twitter.com/gZpEsXPsTf— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 10, 2022
      “The way he was looking at me and the way that he was going about it really didn’t sit well with me,” Horford told reporters after the game. “And at that point I think just something switched with me.”Horford turned in one of the best performances of his career. He scored 16 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter, carrying the Celtics to a 116-108 win that tied the series, 2-2.At least two of his points were a bit of payback directly on Antetokounmpo: a dunk in the fourth quarter over the Bucks star that saw the typically reserved Horford let out a scream.In Horford’s previous 131 playoff games, he had never scored 30 points in a game. In doing so, though, he may have saved the Celtics season.“We love Al,” Celtics guard Marcus Smart said. “He’s the best vet we’ve ever had. Best vet I’ve ever had. You know, he comes in and it never changes with him. Things going bad or good, he’s going to be him. Nine times out of 10, it’s going to work in our favor.”Monday’s performance was made all the more remarkable by the fact that entering the 2020-21 season, Horford was in the basketball wilderness.He had just finished a disappointing season with the Philadelphia 76ers after signing a contract worth more than $100 million. Horford, a five time All-Star, was offloaded to the rebuilding Oklahoma City Thunder, who had little use for an aging center in his mid-30s. The Sixers had to attach a first-round draft pick just to get the Thunder to consider the deal. And then Horford was shut down in midseason. Not because he was injured or playing that poorly. But because he didn’t fit in Oklahoma City.Brad Stevens, the new Celtics president, traded Kemba Walker, another former All-Star with limited productivity in recent years, for Horford, a player he had coached in Boston for three seasons from 2016 to 2019.While Horford made 5 of 7 3-pointers, his teammates struggled to connect from distance.Michael Mcloone/USA Today Sports, via ReutersIt was thought to be a low impact move. What could a past-his-prime, slow-moving center provide to a young Celtics team looking to get more athletic?Quite a bit, it turned out. Horford started 69 games for Boston in the regular season, helping to anchor one of the league’s best defenses. In the first round against the Nets, Horford averaged 13 points and 7.5 rebounds and shot 60 percent on 3-pointers.“I feel like this past summer, I understood that I needed to take it to even another level,” Horford said. “We really started with the summer and just continued in season. And now these are the moments that I want to be a part of.”His motivation, he added, was simple: “That’s from sitting at home. That’s from watching the playoffs. That’s from not knowing what my future was holding and really just hoping to have an opportunity to be in this type of environment.”Against the Bucks, Horford has been the primary defender on Antetokounmpo. It’s a more challenging matchup than one might expect: Antetokounmpo cannot as easily bully Horford in the paint the way he can most defenders. And Horford, even at this stage in his career, is mobile enough to limit Antetokounmpo from speeding past him with long strides.Antetokounmpo scored 34 points on Monday, but he needed 32 shots to get them.Horford’s biggest contribution, meanwhile, has been his shooting. On Monday, Horford made 5 of his 7 3-point attempts. The rest of the team combined to shoot 9 for 30. In several instances, Horford’s baskets came when it seemed the Bucks were on the verge of pulling away.For the Celtics to win this series, they will need to continue to hit their deep jumpers since they are not getting consistent access to the basket because of the rim protection of Antetokounmpo, a former defensive player of the year, and Brook Lopez, the Bucks’ towering center.In Game 2, the Celtics shot 20 of 43 from behind the 3-point line — an exceptional 46.5 percent. They won the game in a blowout. With Horford hitting his shots in Game 4, the Celtics were able to stretch the floor again, and that allowed Jayson Tatum to find more room to navigate in the paint. He recovered from a dismal Game 3 to match Horford with 30 points on Monday, including several key baskets down the stretch.There remain some red flags, though, for Boston in the series. Both of its wins have required uncommon performances — unusually good 3-point shooting, and Horford’s brilliance in Game 4 — and the Bucks still have the best player on either team in Antetokounmpo.Milwaukee, because of its size, also has been able to get into the lane more easily. That produces a more reliable offense, and it puts pressure on officials to call fouls.And other Boston players will need to hit shots. It’s unlikely that Horford, 35, will be able to keep up Monday’s pace, either in shooting or scoring. And in most games, if Horford is the best player on a Boston team with Tatum and Jaylen Brown, something is amiss.Just not Monday night.“Al, man,” Smart said, heaping even more praise on Horford. “He’s been doing this for a very long time, and he understands what he brings to the game and to the team. And we need every last bit of it every night we can. So it’s a big, big, big, big, big, and I mean this, big key, Al being with us.” More

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      Bucks’ Physical Play Makes Celtics Suddenly Look Average

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      Giannis Antetokounmpo overcame early struggles to post a triple double against Boston, which had looked impressive in its sweep of the Nets.The task of stopping a player like Giannis Antetokounmpo — has there ever been a player like Giannis Antetokounmpo? — represents something of a collaborative quagmire.You need a player at once big and strong and nimble enough to stay in front of him. You need others, preferably long-armed men, pestering him with their hands from the periphery. Then you need someone to stand tall and protect the rim from the inevitable onslaught.The Boston Celtics have all of those things. They showed as much last week, in spectacular fashion, when Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and the rest of the Nets were swallowed up in their quicksand defense. And, still, it may not be enough.On Sunday, Antetokounmpo led the Milwaukee Bucks to a comprehensive, 101-89 win at Boston in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinals matchup, quieting, for a night, the hype bubbling around the Celtics after their impressive four-game sweep of the Nets.In the process, in making one of the N.B.A.’s hottest teams look normal for a night, the Bucks were also making a point: The national basketball conversation — that nebulous thing that floats across television and social media and newspaper columns — may inexplicably overlook them at times, but they are the defending champions, and they employ one of the world’s most spectacular athletes.The league’s Most Valuable Player Award this year may be seen as a two-man contest between Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets and Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers. And soap operas and train wrecks may draw the focus of fans to other big-market teams. But all the while, Antetokounmpo and the Bucks are going about their business as one of the most formidable clubs in the league.For Antetokounmpo, then, this series represents an opportunity: How better to burnish your towering reputation than against the league’s most feared defense?“He keeps reading the game,” Bucks Coach Mike Budenholzer said of Antetokounmpo, who overcame some early struggles to register a triple double: 24 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists. “Sometimes it’s scoring it. Sometimes it’s sharing it. He knows he’s got to do both.”The Celtics made a loud entrance onto the playoff stage last month with a flock of long-limbed, athletic defenders working together in the switching, scrambling, disorientingly aggressive defensive system of their first-year coach, Ime Udoka.Durant seemed perplexed by it all. After the series, he willingly sang Boston’s praises.Durant and Antetokounmpo enjoy similar statures in the N.B.A. They are both virtuoso artists. But they work in different mediums. If Durant is a painter with a palette of fine watercolors, Antetokounmpo is a sculptor wielding a mallet and a chisel.If Sunday was any indication, the physicality of Antetokounmpo and the rest of the Bucks’ roster could represent a key difference between the first and second rounds for the Celtics.When the Celtics tried to funnel Antetokounmpo this way or that, he simply skipped around them, a sports car swerving through traffic. If Boston’s defenders — large men, all of them — tried more physical methods to throttle him, they bounced feebly off his body.Midway through the fourth quarter, the Celtics appeared, for once, to corral Antetokounmpo into a dead end. Looking around and realizing he was trapped — “I’m going to get stuck,” he said he told himself — he flipped the ball off the backboard and snatched it out of the air again for a two-handed dunk over Jayson Tatum’s head.“That’s pure talent, pure instinct,” Budenholzer said. “He’s a great player. He does things that are unique and special and timely. That’s one of those plays where you’re just happy he’s on our side.”More important than one superstar’s solo work, though — and another potentially crucial difference between the circumstances of Durant and Antetokounmpo — were the contributions of Milwaukee’s supporting cast.Antetokounmpo, driving for a basket, posted 24 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals in Boston.David Butler Ii/USA Today Sports, via ReutersThe spotlight on Antetokounmpo has sizzled brighter in the absence of Khris Middleton, the team’s second-best player, whose participation in this series remains in doubt after he injured his left knee in Game 2 of the first round last month. A three-time All-Star who averaged 20.1 points and 5.4 assists per game in the regular season, Middleton commands plenty of attention with his ability to create his own shot and score in isolation.With him watching the game from the bench in a navy blue jacket, so much more of the Celtics’ focus could flow toward Antetokounmpo, with the ball spending so much more time in his hands.But those bemoaning Middleton’s absence may be overlooking the Bucks’ remaining cast of trustworthy satellite contributors, players capable of sinking a shot after a defense has collapsed on Antetokounmpo.Jrue Holiday, celebrated often for his defense but a formidable scorer when called upon, chipped in 25 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists. Grayson Allen led the Bucks’ reserves with 11 points, making three of six 3-point attempts.“I try to be as simple as possible,” Antetokounmpo said. “My teammates were there, they were open and they were knocking down shots.”Still, all of these players, the entirety of the Bucks’ universe — their offense, their defense, their collective mood and personality — revolves around Antetokounmpo.How much fuel does he have to burn? He played all but a few seconds in the first quarter, took a short break at the start of the second and got some reluctant rest in the third after an ill-advised fourth foul. Otherwise, he huffed through 38 punishing minutes, earning respite at the end only because the game was clearly decided.Afterward, he let out a long groan as he folded himself into a chair to talk to reporters.“Maybe I’m weird,” Antetokounmpo said when asked whether he felt roughed up. “I thrive through physicality. I love feeling beat up after games. I don’t know why. My family thinks I’m a weirdo.”For a Celtics defense still smarting from a steamrollering, these may be ominous words. More

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      Paul George, Victor Oladipo Talk Return From Injury as Playoffs Begin

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      Paul George is back for the Los Angeles Clippers; Victor Oladipo, for the Miami Heat. The road to return was long but has them back in time for the playoffs.For about a month after he was sidelined with a torn ligament in his right elbow, Paul George could do nothing but wait.He had been through serious injuries before, but the waiting process for this one, in December, was new to him.No activity for a few weeks. He couldn’t get back on the court for more than two months. His body, doctors told him, just needed rest.George would watch N.B.A. games at home with his fiancée, young daughters, newborn son. The children would watch sometimes, but mostly stayed occupied with their iPads while George focused on work.He would pay close enough attention to offer suggestions or words of encouragement to his Los Angeles Clippers teammates via text message. After a while, though, he felt an acute sense of regret.“Early on they did a great job of kind of rallying and keeping together and having a strong season, but as the season went on, they kind of hit a wall and ran out of gas,” George said. “It was very noticeable. It was tough. It was tough to watch that and not be able to help them. I think that was probably the hardest part for me — watching.”When George finally returned on March 29, he promptly scored 34 points to help the Clippers to a comeback win against the Utah Jazz.George is among an unusually large group of players with proven talent who were injured for a considerable part of the 2021-22 regular season. He and others sustained serious injuries, and watched their teams go on without them, while embarking on an often lonely road back. Like George, some of them are returning to their teams just in time for the playoffs and have a chance to change their team’s fortunes dramatically.Victor Oladipo said he had to be be his own “best friend” in motivating himself to push through the long recovery from a leg injury.Marta Lavandier/Associated Press“Having one of our best players back, one of the best players in the league, a guy who’s tremendous on both sides of the ball, does absolutely everything that we ask him and more,” Clippers guard Reggie Jackson said. “Just having him back, having more of our leaders back, you know, face of the franchise and one of the best players in the world, it just gives us more confidence.”George’s teammate Kawhi Leonard has been spotted shooting at the team’s practice facility, having missed the entire season while recovering from A.C.L. surgery. Denver’s Jamal Murray, who had the same surgery, has shown positive signs of recovery, though it is unclear if he will return.Center Brook Lopez returned to the Milwaukee Bucks on March 14 for the first time since the season opener. He had back surgery in December and was listed as “out indefinitely.”“I’ve been through injuries a few times. It’s always just made me appreciate basketball and love it even more,” Lopez told reporters after his first game back. “I try never to take my time on the court for granted, whether it’s practice, shootaround or a game.”He smiled brightly when asked about being back.“I missed it so much,” Lopez said.Miami Heat guard Victor Oladipo knows well the pangs of being away for so long. He had support from friends and family after injuries, but the road back still wasn’t easy.“It can get lonely at times,” Oladipo said. “You’ve got to be your own biggest fan. You’ve got to be your own motivation. You’ve got to self-motivate, you’ve got to talk to yourself, you’ve got to be your best friend.”Oladipo was an All-Star with the Indiana Pacers in 2017-18 and 2018-19. He ruptured his quadriceps tendon in January 2019 and had surgery shortly thereafter. A year later he returned to play but still didn’t feel right.“It feels like it’s you hindering you from being where you need to be,” Oladipo said. “Or that this is your norm and you can never get back to playing freely.”He said he realized soon after his surgery that it had been done incorrectly. He needed a second surgery in May of last year; he did not make his debut this season until last month.Oladipo spent about a month and a half in a cast after the second surgery before restarting the process of learning how to use his legs properly.When he could not be with the team for games, he would sometimes rent out a movie theater at the Brickell City Centre in Miami to watch games by himself, or with his assistant or manager.“The screen is so big, it makes you feel like you’re actually in the game,” Oladipo said.He watched critically, while sitting in the front row, trying to guess how the action would unfold. Sometimes he thought through what decisions he might make if he were the coach.“You want to help the team,” Oladipo said. “If the team is doing well, you want to be part of that. You’ve got to just focus on you and focus on doing the things that you can do in order to get healthy and get right so that you can affect winning and help them the best you can.”Unlike for Lopez and George, Oladipo’s role with the Heat going forward has not been fully established. He has played in only eight games since returning on March 7. On April 3 in Toronto, he scored 21 points.“These are things we have seen daily, behind the scenes,” Chris Quinn, an assistant coach for the Heat, told reporters after the game, while filling in for Coach Erik Spoelstra, who was out because of coronavirus protocols. “It’s the hard work, it’s the grit, it’s the grind. Coming off what he came off injury wise, and for him to get to this point, it’s still part of the process of him becoming what he can be.”The Heat did not play Oladipo in their next two games, but he scored 40 points in the team’s regular-season finale on Sunday.“I’m still capable of doing a lot of good things out there, a lot of great things out there,” Oladipo said in an interview in late March. “Right now, I think my purpose for this team is to do whatever needs to be done in order for us to win.”Bucks center Brook Lopez said he tries not to take basketball for granted after enduring multiple injuries in his career.David Banks/Associated PressThe need for patience doesn’t end once a player returns from injury. Minutes restrictions and nights off are common after a long layoff.For George, that meant that during his second game back — an overtime loss to the Chicago Bulls — he couldn’t play at all in the overtime period.“He tries to lobby, but it’s not up to him,” Clippers Coach Tyronn Lue said of George’s minutes restriction. “Our medical staff is the best in the league, so we give them full responsibility, and allow the player to protect him from himself because he wants to play. All players want to play when they’re on the floor.”As George looks back on the months he spent without being able to play basketball, he acknowledges it was challenging to be forced to stay off the court. But overall he is comfortable with how it went.“I think that’s what made the process so good and that’s what made me feel mentally so great about it,” George said. “There was no low points. I listened to my body; my body was hurt. I knew I needed some time off.”There was a silver lining as well.“I think the positives I took away from it was extended time being with my family,” George said. “Being with my kids. My girl. It was just a lot of time that I got to spend that I don’t usually spend because I’m playing on the road.”The Clippers exceeded expectations without him. While across town the Lakers could not overcome losing LeBron James and Anthony Davis to injury for long stretches, the Clippers qualified for the play-in tournament without having George for most of the season and without having Leonard at all.While Oladipo and the Heat are locked into the top seed of the Eastern Conference playoffs, the Clippers, at No. 8 in the West, will have to fight through the play-in tournament to get either the seventh or eighth seed. They won four of the first five games after George returned. He will get to do a lot more than watch as their postseason begins. More

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      Wesley Matthews Does Dirty Work for Milwaukee Bucks

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      Wesley Matthews does the little things for the Milwaukee Bucks. “We talk about trying to make everything difficult,” said Coach Mike Budenholzer.PHILADELPHIA — After spending last season with the Los Angeles Lakers and the first few weeks of this season out of work, Wesley Matthews returned to the Milwaukee Bucks in early December. The day after he signed his new contract, he found himself coming off the bench for the team in a lopsided win over the Miami Heat.“Which was fine for me,” he said in an interview this week. “I like jumping into the fire.”Matthews was familiar with the Bucks and their system, having played for the team two seasons ago. But at this stage of his career, he seems more than willing to take on whatever responsibilities are asked of him. He rattled through the list: “Coming off the bench, starting, playing 20 minutes, playing 15 minutes, playing 30 minutes.”And for a player who grew up in Wisconsin and starred at Marquette, helping the Bucks repeat as N.B.A. champions would be a career-defining moment.“That would be a really great story, to put him in a position to achieve such a monumental goal,” the Bucks’ Pat Connaughton said.Make no mistake, contenders need players like Matthews: defense-minded veterans who ply their trade in the shadows. It should be noted that Giannis Antetokounmpo casts a particularly long shadow, and he was at his all-world best for the Bucks in their 118-116 win over the 76ers on Tuesday night, finishing with 40 points, 14 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 blocks, none more important than his game-saving swat of Joel Embiid’s layup attempt in the closing seconds.Matthews, on the other hand, assembled a smorgasbord of small delights. The Bucks were trailing by 10 when Matthews fought for an offensive rebound on the opening possession of the second half, the ball eventually finding its way to Brook Lopez for a layup and a 3-point play. A few minutes later, Matthews knocked down a 3-pointer.Matthews, 35, does not stuff a box score but he does countless little things every game to help his team win.Matt Slocum/Associated PressIn the fourth quarter, with Milwaukee’s comeback in full swing, Matthews met the 76ers’ James Harden at the scorer’s table so that he could help defend him for the game’s final 6 minutes 46 seconds. Matthews finished with 5 points, three rebounds and an inordinate number of hustle plays.“We talk about trying to make everything difficult, to make everybody earn everything they get on us,” Bucks Coach Mike Budenholzer said, “and he embodies that.”Not that he views his career this way, but Matthews has had brutal timing. When he was with the Bucks two seasons ago, the Lakers won it all. When Matthews joined the Lakers last season, they were undone by injuries and lost to the Phoenix Suns in the first round of the playoffs — while the Bucks won their first championship in 50 years.“I wanted them to win,” Matthews said. “Phoenix beat us, so I definitely didn’t want them to win, even though I’ve got friends over there. But yeah, I was happy for these guys, I was happy for the city, and I was happy for the state and the organization. Everybody’s good people.”Matthews, 35, coped with uncertainty at the start of the season, which began without him. He worked out by himself at home and kept in periodic contact with Jon Horst, the Bucks’ general manager, along with a few other teams. Matthews was fairly confident that his career was not finished — not yet, anyway.“You obviously don’t know anything for certain, but I had a good feeling,” he said. “It was just going to be a test of how badly I wanted it.”In some ways, he was accustomed to the grind. Back in 2009, he started his N.B.A. career the hard way — by going undrafted. He subsequently signed a nonguaranteed deal with the Utah Jazz, then spent his first couple of months with the team living out of a hotel. He later upgraded to a small apartment with a month-to-month lease. He has since earned more than $100 million over 13 seasons with seven teams.“He brings that energy, that tenacity, that camaraderie — a little bit of everything,” Connaughton said. “I think the ability to have an impact on the game, without necessarily scoring and without necessarily doing it with statistics, is super impressive. It’s something I’ve always admired.”Matthews, center, spent last season with the Los Angeles Lakers. The injury-riddled team was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.Harry How/Getty ImagesThe Bucks were 23 games into their season when Matthews officially joined them on Dec. 3.Training camp? Forget it. Matthews had not even practiced when he took the court against the Heat.“I mean, you’re in the best shape you can be without playing in the N.B.A.,” he said. “I was working every day, staying ready for this moment, for this opportunity.”On Tuesday, Matthews was in the starting lineup so that he could match up with Harden for stretches — no small task. It was the first time the Bucks had faced the 76ers with Harden on their roster. Like many teams around the league, the 76ers are still figuring things out as they head toward the playoffs. The Bucks and the 76ers entered the game with identical 46-28 records, part of an enormous logjam near the top of the Eastern Conference.“We just need to get better continuity,” Doc Rivers, the coach of the 76ers, said before the game. “We haven’t been together long.”In fact, Rivers said he thought that there were only two teams that were fully prepared for the playoffs: the Bucks and the Suns, who faced each other in last season’s N.B.A. finals.“Those two teams know exactly who they are, and they know exactly what to do,” Rivers said. “They’ve been through the fire.”Back with the Bucks, Matthews has made it look as if he never left: defending, rebounding, energizing, winning. More