The picture is an AI-generated illustration, not a photograph from the match
The Bucks led 20-6 inside five minutes and were still ahead after one quarter, yet the Boston Celtics finished Sunday night at Fiserv Forum with a 117-97 win, an 18-0 run that decided the game and a Milwaukee team now 1-9.
A 20-6 start and an 18-0 answer
For five minutes on Sunday the Bucks looked like the better team: Kuzma collected 14 of his 27 points in that stretch and Milwaukee led 20-6 early in the first quarter.
Boston's first quarter ended 27-25 behind because Tatum took the closing possessions, scoring the period's final 10 points to keep the gap inside two.
George opened the second period with eight straight points; the first of his two threes in that spell put Boston ahead 28-27 and the game turned there.
A layup and another three from George capped an 18-0 run that took Boston out of a 20-6 hole and into a lead they did not surrender again.
The pattern was already set four days earlier, when Boston won 109-102 without playing Tatum, and the Celtics arrived in Milwaukee off a 39-point win at Charlotte.
The role players while Tatum sat
Boston led 58-45 at halftime and opened the third quarter with nine straight points to push the margin to 22, after which the Celtics were never ahead by fewer than 15 points.
Tatum's night was decided early enough to be cut short: 21 points, six assists and 29 minutes, with the fourth quarter handed to the reserves.
George went 11 of 18 with five threes for 27 points and finished plus-16 in 28 minutes, supplying the first eight Boston points of the second quarter.
The bench carried the margin: Pritchard was plus-29 with 12 points in 29 minutes, and White had seven of Boston's 27 assists.
Boston's frontcourt did the quiet work: Robinson was perfect from the field with four steals, and Queta filled a 13-point, nine-rebound line in 22 minutes.
Where a 1-9 start leaves the Bucks
Milwaukee fell to 1-9, a start that is the franchise's worst since 1993-94, when the Bucks lost 10 of their first 11 games and finished 20-62.
Kuzma led Milwaukee with 27 points on 10-of-17 shooting and 6-of-13 from three, adding four rebounds and two blocks in 31 minutes.
Myles Turner scored three points on 1-of-8 shooting with five rebounds and a career-high seven assists, and has shot 1-of-15 across his last two games.
Notably, Boston's trip continues in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, while Milwaukee travels to New York the same evening trying to end a start already measured against 1993-94.
The team lines tell it: 47 percent shooting, 48 rebounds, 27 assists and 12 steals for Boston against 35-of-79 shooting and 15 turnovers for Milwaukee.
Editor's take: The 1993-94 comparison will follow this group until it wins; history is not destiny, but it sets the schedule of expectations.
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