The 2nd quarter decided the game. Boston outscored Milwaukee 33-18, and the Bucks went more than 6 minutes without a point, per the Globe. A 2-point deficit turned into a 58-45 lead at the half. The Bucks also played without Gary Trent Jr., ruled out with an illness on Sunday after the preview had both injury reports clean. Losing a guard who can shoot hurt a team that had needed 19 threes to stay close in Boston.
Jayson Tatum, back in the lineup after sitting out the first meeting, scored 21. That's a quiet number next to the 34 he put up in Charlotte, and the Globe's account has him 2nd on the team in scoring. Boston didn't need a takeover. It needed 1 good quarter of defense, and it got one.
The preview's biggest Boston worry was the 2nd half, after the Celtics let a 22-point lead disappear in the first meeting. It never came up. Boston won the 3rd quarter 33-29 and the 4th 26-23, and took the 2nd half 59-52. Milwaukee never got the run that nearly stole the game in Boston. A 13-point halftime lead grew to 17 after 3 and finished at 20.
The search didn't turn up anything on Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr. or Myles Turner, the 3 Bucks who carried the offense in Boston. The line score says enough about the group. Milwaukee scored 18 in the 2nd quarter, and its 97 points were 5 fewer than it managed against Boston 4 days earlier, when Boston was short-handed.
So Boston goes to 8-2 with 4 wins in its last 5, and it beat the Bucks twice in 4 days. Milwaukee is 0-5 in its last 5 and has now led 3 straight opponents at some point without being able to hold on. Against Toronto the lead went in the 2nd half. Sunday it was gone before halftime.
