Just how close were the Boston Celtics to tying up the Milwaukee Bucks at the buzzer in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Saturday?
This close:
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Here's the breakdown: The Celtics, who trailed by as many as 14 during a sluggish third quarter, had actually battled back to take a 100-99 lead over the Bucks with 1:49 remaining.
But Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday each made baskets to build Milwaukee's lead back to 103-100, leaving the Celtics needing a 3 for the tie with 11 seconds to go.
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Marcus Smart, for his part, appeared to draw a foul while attempting a 3 in the waning seconds. Officials ruled that Smart had been fouled before he was in the act of shooting, however; with the Bucks in the penalty, it sent Smart to the line for two shots with 4.6 seconds left.
Smart made the first one before intentionally missing his second -- virtually a necessity, given the situation -- and successfully crashed the boards to grab his own rebound.
It was then that the Celtics missed not one, not two, but three shots around the rim as the clock drained to 0:00. Smart missed first, but Robert Williams III cleaned the glass to come down with a rebound to give Boston another chance. He missed a tip-in with 1.8 seconds left, before Al Horford came in for another tip-in try with 1.4 to go and again came up short.
Horford was able to position himself for yet another tip-in -- the shot actually went into the basket -- but time had clearly expired, leaving the Celtics trailing in the best-of-seven series, 2-1.