BOSTON — So much of the chatter before Boston’s first-round matchup with Milwaukee focused on who wouldn’t be on the court for the Celtics.
Injuries forced Kyrie Irving and Marcus Smart to join Gordon Hayward and Daniel Theis as spectators by the end of the regular season. It seemingly left the East’s second seed vulnerable against a Bucks team boasting one of the league’s most versatile scorers in All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo.
It took seven games, but the Celtics got just enough from the healthy players left on their roster to hold off Milwaukee with a 112-96 victory on Saturday night .
Now they’ll turn their attention to Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid and another youth-led team in the Eastern Conference semifinals against Philadelphia.
“It’s something we’ve had to go through all season,” said rookie Jayson Tatum, who had 20 points on Saturday, becoming just the second rookie in Celtics’ history to score 20 in a Game 7. “Some way, somehow, we figure it out. And I think that’s what’s unique about our team.”
Tatum is just one of the young faces that remain on Boston’s bench that have grown up fast over the past three weeks. Because of it, the Celtics that have squeezed out their best basketball despite the multiple subtractions to their roster.
Terry Rozier put up career numbers after stepping into a starting role. Smart injected new life into the team over the last three games following his return to action from thumb surgery. Then there was rookie Semi Ojeleye, who made things difficult late in the series for Antetokounmpo.
And they still had at least a veteran to lean on.
Al Horford provided not only his voice, but probably his best stretch of games in a Celtics uniform over the last seven games. He matched his playoff career high with 26 points on 13 of 17 shooting in Game 7 and averaged a team-high 18.1 points and 8.7 rebounds for the series.
“It’s what I think I’ve been doing all year,” Horford said. “It’s what we’ve been doing as a group. We didn’t treat this any differently. … I felt like our guys, their poise was great. Milwaukee fought hard. They kept giving us shots, our guys stayed with it and eventually we wore them (out).”
But Boston will enter the series with the 76ers facing yet another challenge.
Jaylen Brown, who had two 30-point games in the series, left near the end of the second quarter on Saturday and sat out the entire second half with a right hamstring injury.
Brown is doubtful for Game 1 against the 76ers with a strained right hamstring, coach Brad Stevens said, while adding that he could return later in the series.
Stevens said Brown still had some soreness on Sunday. Brown had said he was going to have an MRI, and Stevens said tests were negative.
“It looks like it could be something that allows him to play as the series goes on,” Stevens said.
The No. 3 overall pick in the 2016 draft, Brown averaged 14.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game this season. He left Saturday night’s clincher against the Bucks in the first quarter; the team announced that he was available to return, but Stevens decided to play it safe.
Brown said afterward he was told it was a Grade 1 injury — the least severe kind. He was put on anti-inflammatory medication.
“Whatever it takes, I wouldn’t miss this series for the world,” Brown said Saturday night.
“We don’t think about what’s happened throughout the season,” center Aron Baynes said. “We have that ‘next man up’ mentality. We’ll miss Jaylen; he’s definitely hard to make up for. It’s just all being able to collectively do it.”
He said afterward that trainers believe he has a Grade 1 sprain. He was put on anti-inflammatory medication and will get an MRI on Sunday. With rest and treatment he’s optimistic that he’ll be ready to go for Game 1 against the 76ers on Monday night.
“Whatever it takes, I wouldn’t miss this series for the world,” Brown said.
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