The Milwaukee Bucks walked into a rematch with the Boston Celtics trying to stop a five-game slide, and they did so against a team that had already beaten them by seven points on Wednesday without Jayson Tatum. Boston entered at 7-2, Milwaukee at 1-8, and the gap between them was already wide enough to make the second meeting feel like a referendum on where each team stood right now.
That is why Celtics Vs Bucks was drawing attention again so quickly. Boston was second in the Eastern Conference, half a game behind the Sixers, and had won two straight and five of its last six games. Milwaukee, meanwhile, was trying to climb out of the league’s early hole and avoid seeing a difficult stretch turn one loss into a longer problem.
Derrick White was part of what made the first result hard for Milwaukee to shrug off. He scored 24 points on 7/18 shooting and added seven assists against the Bucks on Wednesday, steady enough to keep Boston in control even without Tatum. The Celtics also led 28-14 by the end of the first quarter in that meeting, a fast start that left Milwaukee chasing the game before it could settle in.
The part that stings for Milwaukee is not just that Boston won, but that it did so without its top scorer. Tatum had already delivered big games in the run-up to this matchup, including 36 points in a near-triple-double against the Knicks, 40 points against the Nets with a game-winning shot, and 34 points in a near-triple-double against the Hornets in 29 minutes. Boston kept rolling anyway, which only sharpened the question for Milwaukee: what changes when the Celtics have that firepower back?
Milwaukee’s problem is immediate and unforgiving. The Bucks were looking for their first road win of the year in Boston, and their record left little room to assume momentum would arrive on its own. Boston’s form suggested the opposite, with the Celtics described as surging after a slow start and looking like an early title contender after adding Paul George. Milwaukee’s youth has shown promise despite the record, but promise does not end a slide by itself.
For the Bucks, the rematch is less about revenge than survival. Beating Boston would not erase the 1-8 start, but it would at least stop the skid from deepening against one of the East’s strongest teams. Lose again, and the next question becomes harder: how long can Milwaukee keep saying the schedule is the problem before the standings say otherwise?
