This image is an AI-generated illustration rather than matchday photography
Paul George scored 27 points and Jayson Tatum 21, and neither needed a fourth quarter: Boston built a 22-point lead in the third period and coasted to a 117-97 victory that leaves the Bucks with their worst start since 1993-94.
A 20-6 start and an 18-0 answer
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 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 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.
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 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 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.
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.
Notably, 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.
Turner's three points and a career night elsewhere
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.
Meanwhile, 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.
In the wider picture, 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.
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: 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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