The picture is an AI-generated illustration, not a photograph from the match
This was the second meeting in five nights, the first in Boston with Tatum resting, and the second turned into a 20-point margin: the Celtics scored the first nine points of the third quarter and were never caught in a 117-97 win.
Kuzma's five minutes, then nothing
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.
Jayson Tatum scored the final 10 points of the first quarter to cut the deficit to 27-25, a stretch that stopped Milwaukee from building a second run.
Paul George supplied the first eight points of the second quarter, and his three-pointer in the opening minute gave Boston its first lead at 28-27.
The 18-0 finished with a George layup and one more three, and Milwaukee went from 14 points up inside five minutes to trailing before halftime.
Notably, 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
The third quarter settled it: a 9-0 start to the period made it 22 and the final score read 117-97.
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.
In the wider picture, 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.
The worst opening since 1993-94
At 1-9 the Bucks are in territory they have not occupied since 1993-94, when a 10-loss opening stretch preceded a 20-62 season.
In addition, 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.
Turner finished with three points, five rebounds and seven assists, the last a career high, after going scoreless in Friday's NBA Cup loss to Toronto.
The Celtics move to 8-2 and are scheduled at Philadelphia on Tuesday night before finishing the trip in Toronto; the Bucks are also on the road in New York on Tuesday.
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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