Who was the guy? Al Horford. The Boston Celtics big man has already been given a ton of praise for the defensive effort he’s given his team defending Giannis Antetokounmpo in this series. The Milwaukee Bucks expect that side of the floor to be great for their opponent. What they could not have been expecting was Horford to drop 30 points on 11-of-14 from the field. Jayson Tatum was good, and the Celtics got two good performances from Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart to even out the attack. But Horford could not miss. He had 16 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter to help the Celtics pull away and even up this series.

What was the key here? A monster fourth quarter by the Celtics. The Celtics scored 43 points in the fourth quarter. Forty-three! Horford and Tatum combined for 28 of those points, which tied the entire quarter of scoring production by the Bucks. This series has been so physical and so brutal. To have the energy and focus to put up 43 points in the fourth — and only seven of them coming at the free-throw line — just shows the elevated level of play the Celtics were able to conjure up in Milwaukee.

Key stat: 5-of-22. That was Jrue Holiday’s shooting performance in Game 4, and it’s simply not good enough with Khris Middleton out. Holiday played good defense. He dished out the ball pretty well and found his teammates for some key buckets in the fourth. But he couldn’t buy a shot. He was just 2-of-12 in the second half, and he went 0-of-5 from the field in the fourth quarter. They don’t need him to be great as a scorer, but he can’t be horrendous as a shot maker.

The moment it was over: Marcus Smart hit a short shot in the lane over Holiday with 1:42 left to give the Celtics an eight-point lead. The Bucks were trying to mount a comeback at that point, and they had enough time to do it still. But Holiday had just missed a layup, and Grayson Allen missed a 3-pointer when the Bucks grabbed the offensive rebound. Instead of a four- or three-point game at that point, the Celtics came down, and Smart made the shot in the lane. That pushed it to eight, and that was pretty much the game.

The moment of the game: We had a couple of big-time poster moments between Giannis and Horford in this game. They both were given technical fouls, but they didn’t overshadow the plays themselves. Early in the third quarter, Giannis grabbed the ball in transition, took those big strides in the lane and dunked with Horford right there with him. Giannis stared down Horford and received a tech for some reason, and Horford could be seen just nodding his head at Giannis.

Don't mess with the Greek Freak. 😤 pic.twitter.com/5HIuAxHgsu

— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) May 10, 2022

Then early in the fourth quarter, Horford caught the ball on the right wing after a pick-and-pop. He pump faked, got Antetokounmpo to react, drove by him and threw down a big one-handed jam as Giannis tried to block it from behind. Horford received a technical foul because he made contact with Giannis’ face after the dunk and foul occurred. Also because the referees feel compelled to review things that don’t really need to be reviewed just because contact happened. But those two dunks in the second half were fun.

AL HORFORD MY GOODNESS 😤 pic.twitter.com/rWoi69x7NI

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) May 10, 2022

What can the Celtics do to win Game 5? Getting Robert Williams III back for Game 5 would be huge. I know they won without him in Game 4, and they’ve had success without him in the playoffs so far. But having that extra defensive body is huge in this series. They’ve got to continue to force the Bucks into some out-of-rhythm 3-point attempts because the deluge of made 3-pointers will happen at some point. The Celtics just have to hope their execution on both ends carries them past that moment.

What can the Bucks do to win Game 5? It sounds simple, but the Bucks have to hit some damn shots. They shot the 3-ball terribly in Game 4. They weren’t much better knocking down 2-point shots either. The Bucks were 4-of-21 on shots in the paint that weren’t coming from the restricted area. They usually feast in that zone, but they couldn’t make anything. Bobby Portis needs to step up off the bench, and maybe they should move Wes Matthews back to the bench to keep that size up front.

Who was the guy? Steph Curry. The Golden State Warriors legend took a while to get going, but eventually he helped his team take the lead from the Memphis Grizzlies with an 18-point fourth quarter. Curry finished with 32 points on 10-of-25 from the field and 4-of-14 from deep. Not great, Bob. But Curry got to the free-throw line in the fourth quarter, including a bunch of clutch free throws with the Warriors trying to extend this lead and the Grizzlies fouling to extend the game. The Warriors kept this close enough in the hopes that eventually Curry would take over. He did, and now they’re in the driver’s seat for this series with a chance to end it on Wednesday.

What was the key here? Ja Morant not being around for Game 4. It just changes everything for the Grizzlies and puts them at a massive disadvantage. I know the Grizzlies had success in the regular season without their best player. They went 20-5. Well, those 20 wins didn’t come against the Warriors every time. It’s a lot harder to have that kind of success against a good team in the playoffs.

Key stat: Six and 11. The Grizzlies missed six free throws in a game they attempted only 15 of them. Kyle Anderson was responsible for five of those missed free throws. Considering it was such a tight game the Grizzlies led for almost the entire night, those are massive misses. The Grizzlies also turned 16 Warriors turnovers into just 11 points. You need to, at worst, get a point for each turnover you get from the other team. Memphis couldn’t do that.

The moment it was over: Draymond Green blocked Jaren Jackson Jr.’s game-tying 3-point attempt with 12.7 seconds left. The Grizzlies tried to play the foul game and get a quick 2, then hope that … let me check my notes … Steph Curry — the best free-throw shooter of all time — would miss enough free throws to allow Memphis to come back in the final moments. Eventually, they needed to take a 3-pointer, Jackson was their go-to guy on the floor, and Green was all over that attempt. The Warriors corralled the miss and got more free throws to expand it to a two-possession game.

The moment of the game: There wasn’t one. This was a putrid game to watch. It looked like a mid-major tournament for which you’d need to find an illegal stream just to check how your parlays are doing. The two teams shot a combined 40.8 percent from the field and 25.0 percent from 3-point range. The Warriors picked it up a little in the fourth quarter to come back and take their first lead and the victory. But this was a completely forgettable, ugly game on both sides.

What can the Warriors do to win Game 5? If they just play like the Warriors without a healthy Morant available, the Warriors should be able to close this out. Klay Thompson has shot horrendously. Jordan Poole was not the guy Warriors wanted him to be in Game 4. It took Otto Porter Jr. and Andrew Wiggins carrying them for stretches until Curry could finally take over. If the Warriors knock down a few shots in rhythm, they can really put pressure on the Grizzlies to wilt under the offensive assault.

What can the Grizzlies do to win Game 5? They need Morant back, but if he’s not healthy enough to play, then I’m not quite sure what the Grizzlies can do. The Warriors have shot inexplicably poorly in two of the last three games. The Grizzlies missed opportunities to have this series at 2-2. Maybe they can make these games all ugly the rest of the series and turn this into a coin flip, but they’ve got to create easy baskets for themselves. Transition chances. Second-chance points. Knock down corner 3-pointers. Hope the Warriors don’t take care of the ball.

(Photo: Kyle Terada / USA Today)

Zach Harper is a Staff Writer for the The Athletic, covering the NBA. Zach joined The Athletic after covering the NBA for ESPN.com, CBS Sports, and FRS Sports since 2009. He also hosts radio for SiriusXM NBA and SiriusXM Mad Dog Sports Radio. Follow Zach on Twitter @talkhoops