Triggered by Giannis Antetokounmpo, Al Horford scores playoff career-high 30 points to rescue Boston Celtics in Game 4

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Al Horford knew he would get his revenge.

After Antetokounmpo dunked on him early in the third quarter, he received a technical foul for saying something to Horford. As Horford walked back up the court, he nodded his head and said "OK" as he looked at Antetokounmpo.

Horford said that the way he looked at him didn't sit well with him.

Horford returned the favor in the next quarter. He hit Antetokounmpo with a pump fake after catching the ball on the perimeter. Antetokounmpo bit and Horford drove to his right, elevating at the rim for a slam over the two-time Most Valuable Player.

The turning point in the game was when Boston outplayed Milwaukee down the stretch in a 116-108 victory. The series heads back to Boston on Wednesday.

Horford was called for a technical foul after hitting Antetokounmpo in the face with his dunk. The Celtics were down by 10 points late in the third quarter, but Horford's slam put an emphatic stamp on a 10-0 run that put them back in the game.

Horford said that the playoffs are very intense. The third was hard for a while. Marcus Smart kept telling us to stay with it. A lot of emotions at that point. That was what it was.

The emotional boost the Celtics needed was provided by the Horford dunk.

Smart said it was a big-time play in a big-time moment. We were on the other end a few times, so it felt good to have that one.

Horford was 6-of-8 from the field in the fourth quarter and knocked down a pair of 3-pointers. He finished with 30 points, a playoff high for the 35-year-old who was playing in his 132nd career playoff game.

It came after he put up 22 points and 16 rebound in the loss Saturday, a defeat that Horford and the whole team took harder than usual.

Horford said that at the end of Game 3, they felt they were in a position to win the game. I knew what we needed to do as a group. We were going to do whatever it took. It was one of those nights.

The team scored 43 points on 16-of-19 shooting in the fourth quarter to run away with the victory. The 43 fourth-quarter points equaled the most in the final quarter in Celtics franchise history, which was tied with Game 5 of the 2001 first round against the Philadelphia 76ers. The Celtics shot 84.2% in the first quarter of the playoffs, their best percentage since 1997.

Horford hit Antetokounmpo with a foul on the play, and the Bucks converted the technical free throw. Milwaukee scored the next two baskets to stretch the lead, but Horford was there again, ending a quick 7-1 run with a 3-pointer.

Horford hit a 3-pointer to give Boston the lead for good after the Bucks took the lead again. After he put the Celtics up 95-94, Horford came back down with an old-fashioned three-point play to give the Celtics bench even more to celebrate.

The Celtics rode that wave of emotion to the end, but everything really got rolling with the dunk.

It gets everybody off the bench when Al looks like his old self. Al plays with passion. Everyone else has to follow Al when he is playing with passion.