November 5, 2026 at 7:06 AM UTC

Postgame Report

Celtics Go Up 21 Without Tatum, Then Hold Off a 38-Point Bucks Third Quarter

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With Jayson Tatum resting, Boston led Milwaukee 62-41 at the half, watched the Bucks score 38 in the third, and still won 109-102 at TD Garden.

This page is the postgame report. The box score is the main page for the game, and the matchup history collects every meeting between these teams.

Boston played without Jayson Tatum, led Milwaukee 62-41 at halftime, and then nearly gave it all back. The Bucks scored 38 in the third quarter, against 25 for the Celtics, and cut a 21-point deficit to eight. Boston steadied itself in the fourth, winning that quarter 22-23 on the scoreboard's terms only in the sense that it kept the margin, and took the game 109-102.

The Celtics did their damage early. They scored 28 in the first quarter against 14 for Milwaukee, then 34 in the second to push the lead past 20. Paul George led all scorers with 25, hitting 5 of 9 from three. Derrick White added 24 with seven assists in 36 minutes, the most on the floor for either side.

Milwaukee's rally ran through Tyler Herro, who scored 25 on 8-of-17 shooting with four threes. Jaime Jaquez Jr. had 18, and Myles Turner finished with 12 points, nine rebounds and six assists. The third-quarter surge got the Bucks within reach, but they could not outscore Boston in the fourth, 23-22 notwithstanding, and the gap never closed enough to matter.

Boston improves to 6-2 and has now won five straight at home, a bounce-back after a 109-93 loss at Houston. The Bucks fall to 1-7 with a fourth consecutive loss. Neemias Queta had 12 rebounds and Baylor Scheierman 11, each scoring nine, and Mitchell Robinson added 10 boards on 1-of-8 shooting.

Sources

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