The Boston Celtics defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 108-95 in Game 6 of the NBA Eastern Conference semifinals at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on Friday, tying the series 3-3.

The Celtics gained the chance to play Game 7 at home at TD Garden on Sunday. With a 24-9 all-time record for Game 7 in the postseason, the team is again in a favorable situation for this series.

Jayson Tatum was the best-performing Celtic in Friday's game, dropping 46 points and nine rebounds, including 11 points in three minutes in the final quarter. He, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart combined 16 triples, forcing the Bucks to stay small most of the time. As a result, the Bucks lost their offensive rebounding advantage, which was key to their victory in Game 5.

The Celtics shot 8-of-15 from downtown in the first quarter, forcing the Bucks to change their defense from closing in to switching in guarding screen plays. They cooled down in triples in the following three quarters, but both Tatum and Brown received a lot of chances to launch attacks in mismatch. Tatum exploited these chances well to get 28 points in the second half. Only Giannis Antetokounmpo could contain him in isolation possessions, but the Bucks couldn't afford to have their best rim protector distracted so much by one defensive target.

Antetokounmpo also shouldered most of the Bucks' offensive responsibilities. He scored 44 points, 20 rebounds and six assists on Friday night, partly because he was in the best offensive form of the series, but also because the rest of the Bucks failed to stand out on this front. Only Jrue Holiday and Pat Connaughton scored in double digits for the Bucks, but neither reached 20 points.

The Bucks only made seven 3-pointers in Game 6, all of them from Antetokounmpo, Holiday and Connaughton. Without enough support from his teammates, Antetokounmpo did his best charging the human great wall set by Grant Williams, Al Horford and Marcus Smart. He hit 10-for-21 from the field in the paint and 14-of-15 at the free throw line. However, the Celtics' defenders shared the fouls in a smart and reasonable way, minimizing the damage to their defensive line.

Both teams have run out of tricks as the East semifinals reached Game 7. The 3-point line became the lifeline for both sides on offense. The Celtics needed to stay productive and efficient behind the arc to blow Lopez to the bench so they will face less defensive pressure, especially in the paint. Tatum and Brown must maintain their individual offensive threat because their scoring performance plays a significant role in changing the opponents' defense, especially when the Celtics lack good enough orchestrating ability in the point guard position.

The Bucks need their shooters to pose enough pressure from outside to set Antetokounmpo free so he can maximize his offensive power to charge the Celtics in the paint. Despite the excellent defensive line set up by Williams, Horford and Smart, the Celtics are an undersized franchise, especially in the interior. The Bucks' two big men, Lopez and Bobby Portis, can shoot three pointers to stretch the spacing and punish small defenders in mismatch to ease the burden on Antetokounmpo.

Jrue Holiday needs to do more as well. The Bucks won all of the three games in which he scored over 20 points and he didn't reach 20 points in any of the three losses. He just had the career-best shooting performance in the 2021-22 regular season and only began to go through ups and downs in the playoffs.

The last time the two teams appeared in Game 7 of a series, the Celtics beat the Toronto Raptors 92-87 in the East semifinals in 2020 and the Bucks defeated the Brooklyn Nets 115-111 in overtime in the East semifinals in 2021.