The picture is an AI-generated illustration, not a photograph from the match
Kyle Kuzma's 14 points in the opening five minutes were the most Milwaukee would get for free; Boston answered with an 18-0 run built by Tatum and George, then held the lead for 74 percent of the game in a 117-97 rout.
Tatum closes the first, George opens the second
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.
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.
58-45 at the half, 22 up in the third
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 led all starters with 27 points on 11-of-18 shooting, including 5-of-10 from distance, plus three rebounds, one assist and two steals for a plus-16 rating.
In the wider picture, Payton Pritchard scored 12 points on 4-of-11 three-point shooting for a team-best plus-29, and Derrick White added nine points and seven 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.
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.
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.
In addition, Boston shot 45-of-95 for 47 percent and 18-of-48 from three, outrebounded Milwaukee 48 to 36, recorded 12 steals and turned 15 Bucks turnovers into 11 points.
Editor's take: Milwaukee's 20-6 start is the number that should bother its staff most: leads like that are not lost by accident, they are lost possession by possession.
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