Paul George and Tatum rout the 1-9 Bucks 117-97
Paul George scored 27 points and Jayson Tatum added 21 as the Celtics beat the Bucks 117-97 on Sunday at Fiserv Forum, leaving Milwaukee 1-9
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.
Kuzma's five minutes, then nothing
Kyle Kuzma scored 14 points in the first five minutes and pushed the Bucks to a 20-6 lead, the largest advantage Milwaukee produced in the game.
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
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 finished with 21 points on 6-of-19 shooting, 5-of-11 from three and six assists, and spent the entire fourth quarter on the bench.
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, the bench carried the margin: Pritchard was plus-29 with 12 points in 29 minutes, and White had seven of Boston's 27 assists.
Mitchell Robinson scored 12 points on 6-of-6 shooting with seven rebounds, four steals and a plus-19 in 18 minutes, while Neemias Queta added 13 points, nine rebounds and four assists.
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's 27 points were the only sustained offense the Bucks could name, delivered on 6-of-13 from the arc after his fast start.
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.
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.
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.
Editor's take: An 18-0 run that began with Tatum and ended with George is a two-man answer; turning a 20-6 lead into a 20-point loss is a team problem.
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