Milwaukee's 1-9 start is its worst since 1993-94
Kyle Kuzma scored 14 points in the first five minutes, Boston answered with an 18-0 run and won 117-97; Milwaukee's start is its worst since 1993-94
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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.
In the wider picture, it was the second Boston game in five nights for Milwaukee: the Celtics won 109-102 on Wednesday in Boston with Tatum rested, and reached Milwaukee after opening a four-game trip with a 119-80 win at Charlotte on Friday.
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.
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.
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
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.
In addition, 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.
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.
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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