George scores 27 as Celtics erase 14-point hole, rout Bucks

The Celtics fell behind by 14 points in the first five minutes Sunday night, then outscored the Milwaukee Bucks by 34 the rest of the way for a 117-97 win at Fiserv Forum. Paul George scored 27 points on 11-of-18 shooting, including 16 in a second quarter that turned the game, and Boston improved to 8-2.

Milwaukee fell to 1-9. The win completed a two-game sweep of the Bucks in five days, after Boston's 109-102 home win on Wednesday.

A 20-6 hole

The Bucks came out hot. Kyle Kuzma scored 14 points in the first five minutes, hitting four threes, and his last one made it 20-6 with 7:05 left in the first quarter. Boston called timeout.

What followed was the start of the comeback. Coming out of the timeout, the Celtics went on a 19-7 run to close the quarter, and Jayson Tatum scored 13 of those points. He finished the first quarter with 16 points and four threes, and Milwaukee's lead was down to 27-25 after one.

George takes over

George opened the second quarter with three straight baskets in 74 seconds, all three assisted by Derrick White. The first, a three-pointer with 11:21 left in the half, gave Boston a 28-27 lead it never gave back. The layup drew a Milwaukee timeout, and another three on the next trip made it 33-27.

He was not done. George scored 16 points in the quarter on six baskets, four of them threes, and two of those threes came in the final four minutes of the half. Boston won the quarter 33-18 and led 58-45 at halftime.

He played 28 minutes, finished with 27 points and made 5 of 10 threes. Boston outscored Milwaukee by 16 with him on the floor.

The offense kept moving

The comeback did not depend on one player. The ball kept moving and the shots came from everywhere: Boston finished with 27 assists on 45 baskets, and White had 7 assists to go with his 9 points.

The Celtics also won the possession battle. They grabbed 20 offensive rebounds to Milwaukee's 9, committed 10 turnovers to the Bucks' 15 and finished with 12 steals. That gave Boston 95 shots to Milwaukee's 79.

The bench carried a big share. Payton Pritchard made 4 of 11 threes for 12 points and finished plus-29, the best mark of the night. Mitchell Robinson went 6 for 6 for 12 points, with 7 rebounds and 4 steals in 18 minutes.

A Bucks team still searching

Milwaukee had no answer once the early shooting cooled. After Kuzma's fast start, the Bucks scored 18 points in the second quarter, and Boston led by at least 13 points for the entire second half. Kuzma finished with 27 points, but Myles Turner went 1 for 8 and Tyler Herro scored 13 on 12 shots.

The Bucks have lost nine of their first 10 games. Boston's ball movement and work on the glass wore them down over the final three quarters, and from 20-6 on, Boston outscored Milwaukee 111-77.

What's next

The Celtics play at Philadelphia on Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET, then at Toronto on Wednesday.

Sources: box score and play-by-play data, including Basketball-Reference's box score and play-by-play.