 Welcome to Celtics post game live at Eddie House. I mean, a Smith here with the Celtics with a win against the Milwaukee Bucks, 122 to 119. And they came down to the wire for this Celtics team. And then, you know, throughout the game, Eddie, it really felt like the Celtics, they were trying to pull away the Bucks still right there. Two of the top teams in the East going at it. What did this win solidify for you? Well, it meant a lot because the game was in runs. You know, we made our run and we had a longer run than they had and they made their run and came back. But we were able to cut their water off, you know. We didn't allow them to ever take the lead or tie the game. We stayed in front and that's big. And we did it in different ways that we used to do. You know, we would just jack up threes and shoot threes. No, it's trying to get to the basket. It's taking our time and sharing the basketball, moving and then getting stops on defense, contesting shots and things like that. So I really like this win. I know that in the fashion, we should have won by more, you would think, but a W is a W is a W. And at the end of the day, we're showing that we can win in a multitude of ways. It was an ugly win for this Celtic team because you don't want to see it go down to the wire like that. But what? Ugly. It was a little, come on, they should have won. A W is cute to me. A W is cute to me, too. But when you win by 20, it's cuter. You know what I'm saying? It's beautiful. OK, it's beautiful. This Bucks team, they stayed in at the entire match of any what allowed the Bucks to kind of try and keep this game close. Well, you think you got Bobby Portis, championship pedigree. You got, we know Dame Lillert, top 75 player. So those two guys really stepped up for them. They had Conditon kept the ball alive a couple of times, got a layup, you know, kept offensive rebound alive when they were trying to come back there at late in the game. But those two guys in particular were the ones that spearheaded that comeback. And they made all the plays down to stretch for the Milwaukee Bucks. And we saw some big plays out of Jaylen Brown as well. He's with Abby Chin after this win. Jaylen, you took on the challenge of guarding Dame and Lillert pretty much this entire game. Take me through that final stop at the rim that closed this game out. Just trying to take some around all game. He's tough, you know. I give a lot of respect to the name. And I was in his jersey all game long and he still makes some tough shots. So shout out to him. But, you know, that was my assignment. That's what I took on the challenge and helped us get the win. But we got to be better in the fourth. You guys did hold them off. What's different about this team this season in the clutch? I just think that we got different lineups, different team. We got Przingis. We got Drew, who wasn't out there today. But we got guys that can make a difference. So we just played with poise, take our time and get some good shots. I thought tonight we got some good looks in the fourth. We just couldn't get a stop. But we didn't panic. We didn't rush. We got some good offense. So credit to Milwaukee, though. They played good tonight. I know how close you are with Peyton and how much joy it brings you to see him shine. What kind of boost did he give this game? Like this, where it's like two physical teams. It's like the other guys that make the difference. For Milwaukee, it was Bobby Portis. For us, it was Peyton Pritzer. He's been doing the night in and night out and he deserves some credit. Finally, Jalen, did you know you guys have not lost to an Eastern Conference team in this building this season? How much pride are you taking in that streak? I didn't know that. But it means a lot. But we got to keep that up going into the playoffs. Obviously, it's a new team new year. But it's been a blessing to be on this squad. So we just got to keep it up, starts on defense and we continue it on offense and try to find a way to win. Jalen, thank you. Congratulations. Thank you. And Jalen Brown yet again, locked in on defense for this matchup against the Milwaukee Bulls. He said he was in when he said that Eddie, because it just reminded me of the commitment that Jalen Brown talked about on the defensive end of the floor. How did that show up tonight? Well, he made it tough. Like, you know, Dame was 11 for 21, had 32 points. He made some buckets. But a lot of those shots were tough. And you could live with a guy making tough shots if you're doing everything right defensively. The team is in the right place defensively. And you're carrying out your defensive game plan. And that's the reason why Dame is a top 75 player. He still finishes with 32. But that was probably the toughest 32 I've seen Damian Lillard have. I haven't seen him have 32 that tough. And it was because Jalen Brown was in his jersey. Everywhere he went, he made sure that he at least felt him. If it wasn't being physical with him, if it wasn't contesting his shot, it was just denying him whatever it was that he was doing to try to take him out of his rhythm. I mean, if somebody wasn't watching this game and they just looked up and said, oh, damn, Dame Lillard had 32, Jalen Brown really didn't do anything. No, if you watched the game, you could see the effect that Jalen Brown had on him. And Damian Lillard really didn't start getting those shots until the second half of this match. All right, let's take a look at that late execution in the fourth quarter. See how it all went down for this Celtic team. Up by three at this point, Jason Tatum attacking, something we don't see very often from Jason Tatum. But then he gets to drive and foul right here. And then obviously going to get those two buckets at the free throw line. And then again, Jason Tatum driving again to the basket, late in the fourth quarter. That makes it 1-14 to 1-07. And then Christas Porzingis on this next play. You're going to see him with this offensive rebound. Christas Porzingis at the right place at the right time. Being so aggressive in this game as well. And that's really where the Celtic team, they kind of sealed this game. And then Malik Beasley, a costly foul on Jalen Brown. And of course, Jalen Brown gets to the free throw line and makes both of those shots at Doc Rivers. Not happy about this one. Skal joining us live here on the desk. Skal, how did the Celtics look in that late game execution that people have questioned so much over the last month? Well, I mean, it was good because they just based the floor out. Jason Tatum against Malik Beasley. Tatum didn't rush. Tatum didn't settle for a step back jumper. He's just like, you know what? I'm just going to go where I need to go. I'm going to get to the spots that I want to get to. And if you don't come help, I'm going to go all the way to the rim. So I think what people talk about the Celtics, talk about Tatum late in games, I think it's the pull up step back jumpers that they're mad at. But in that situation, I really liked his poise of saying, I'm going to get the shot that I want. And no one on the Bucks came. He read the defense and he got layups out of it. And I think people can all live with that. Eddie, what stood out to you about Jason Tatum in that late game execution? Just everything that he just said, I think it was one time today that he took a bell out shot. And I think it was, Dame Lillard was guarding him. It was in the first half. It was on the left side of the floor. And he went to turn. You know what I'm talking about? He did that turnaround jumper. And it was enough time to where he could have got downhill and got to the basket like he did late in the game. And I think seeing him making those adjustments on the fly, for the most part, you got to think that we're watching the, this is a young man, right? Well, he came in the league, he's super young. So he's constantly developing and constantly getting better, constantly processing the game a little bit different. And so for me to see him do that when he got that matchup, the favorable matchup in the first half, then he took a turnaround jumper in it. And I know that he was thinking it was stuff like, man, I could have probably got to the basket. In the second half, he made that adjustment, got to the basket, especially with your boy, Beasley out there. Can't guard you or me up. Wait a minute. I said, he can't guard you. I said, he can't guard you. I'm so used to Eddie talking about my handle because now it's not good. All right. Did you guys, did you, OK, so what do you make of us, like the fourth quarter before those moments? I mean, it was a week, two, three zone, but we just settled all every time. Like if Derek White made some threes, I liked those. But we went back to, I get it, like you don't want to sprint the ball up the court and everything like that. But I just felt like once a team goes 5-0, they were 7-0. Now they're 9-0, 11-0, 15-2. What are we doing at that point? I'll tell you what that is. That, like, it's a week, two, three zone that we're like taking the bait for. And I just didn't like the way, that game could have went a lot of different ways at the end. But Tatum came through with the liver. They missed a few shots, whatever. You remember what Doc used to tell us when teams used to run two, three zone against us? Yeah. They can't guard us. Yeah, that's the whole reason why they run two zone. They can't guard us, right? I thought we had good looks. We just didn't make the shot. Derek White had some really, really, really good looks. But we didn't make them. But at the same time, I'm with you. We could attack a little bit more, especially when it's like one possession, two possession, three possessions. You can make a difference. I didn't love the way we closed that game out. And all I could think about is like, dang, I don't have to take the coon post in that home. That's what I was thinking about also. We should be sending a message. He's not even out there on the floor. You talk about the Bucks in that offense. They outscored the Celtics 36 to 21 in that fourth quarter. Although the Celtics found a way to win this game. It's Gal. What allowed the Bucks to pretty much have their way in that fourth quarter to get back in this game and have the chance to win? So they made some tough shots. I'm going to give them credit. They made some tough plays. But I just think it was us taking our foot off the gas. And I get it. We don't need to sprint the ball up to four when you're up by 18. But there is a time where we're supposed to play with a little bit more swag until the team goes 6-0 on us, right? You could still, I just, I really wanted to send a message to the Bucks. And it just never felt like we were going to get to that point where we're going to send that message. Patty, did this game give you any confidence about seeing the Bucks in the postseason, this Celtics team? Yeah, because I look at their team. And it's Bobby Portis, OK? And it's Chris Middleton, you know, no, Yanis. Those are probably the guys that you got to really, really worry about scoring the bulk of their points. You're going to have to, the ancillary players like the Brook Lopez, the Crowders, you've got to try to keep their water as low as possible, you know what I mean, and try to cut that off. But it's still a win. I thought, you know, we took care of the basketball, you know. And so when I look at everything in totality, you know, a win is a win is a win is a win. You know, I would love to have made a statement, right? I would have loved to come out there. But you've got to give that, that's a pro, another, you know, there's some championship team over here. Because I'm thinking about the playoffs. How difficult, Skal, do you think that match-up will be seven-game series between the Celtics and the Bucks, even though the Celtics are head and shoulders up on. This is game one. So if this is game one, how are you feeling? No, so I like, I'm OK. And this game won't without Yanis, though. That's what I'm thinking. OK, so here's the thing, Bucks weren't on my radar as Bucks weren't on my radar at the beginning of the year when I was killing their defense. You guys remember that. You guys still making fun of me about that, right? Then I was like, wait a minute. Bucks are trending a certain direction. This team right now, by the time the playoffs roll around, we won't play them till the conference finals. They're going to be a real deal. So I'm confident we're going to win. But I'm telling you, this is not, they ended up as a team that's going to be a physical, hard-fought, six, seven-game series that we're going to have to bring it as opposed to what I thought. No, they're not on our level. I think they're closer than I thought.