The Game 4 win over the Milwaukee Bucks was a microcosm of the Boston Celtics' season

MILWAUKEE — There was a point this season when the Boston Celtics were 16-19 overall.

There was a point last season when Al Horford was shut down by the Oklahoma City Thunder with 28 games left, unsure of where the twilight of his pro career was headed.

There was a point late Monday night when the Milwaukee Bucks had a 10-point lead and it felt like every break and whistle was going in the defending champs' favor.

One of Boston's starters, Robert Williams III, was on the bench with an injury. Two others, Jaylen Brown and Grant Williams, were out with foul trouble. Another, star forward Jayson Tatum, was unable to shake what looked like a two-game slump.

Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo was relentlessly pressuring the rim, bending the Celtics' defense and repeatedly challenging the referees to try to figure out how to sort out all of the contact that was sending bodies sprawling.

«We felt right at home,» Celtics guard Marcus Smart said. «That's who we are. The adversity, the hostile environment. We've been doing this all year, and we've been thriving in it. For us, we feel very comfortable in it.»

The Celtics' actions have backed up those words over these past five months; they are a team that has shown admirable resiliency. They had their finest moment in that regard with a dominating 43-point fourth quarter to pull out a 116-108 Game 4 road victory on Monday to forge a 2-2 series tie in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Smart was the reassuring voice. As all of New England was losing its collective mind about the whistles during a frustrating third quarter, it was Smart telling teammates on the floor and on the bench to stay the course. They did, chopping a double-digit lead down to seven going into the fourth.

Tatum