Jaylen Brown had 33 points for Boston. Tatum added 30 points, with 21 in the second half. Jeff Teague came off the bench with 19 points and 4 assists.
The Celtics led, 103-86, in the opening minute of the fourth quarter before the Bucks surged back behind Antetokounmpo. The two-time MVP scored 15 points over six minutes, including a powerful 10-point run of his own that pulled Milwaukee within 109-107 with 6:28 left. With 3:26 left, an Antetokounmpo turnaround gave the Bucks a 115-113 lead, their first since early in the third quarter.
Tatum gave Boston the lead back on a tough stepback before Jrue Holiday drilled a 3-pointer that put Milwaukee in front, 120-119, with 1:10 left. After a Tatum miss, Donte DiVincenzo streaked the other way to extend Milwaukee’s lead, but he was stripped by Teague, the ball going out of bounds off DiVincenzo’s leg.
Observations from the game:
⋅ There was growing angst about this team based on a pair of lethargic exhibition games, but this should quell that in the short term, at least. The Celtics were not perfect, but the performances of their two stars, as well as newcomers Teague and Thompson, showed that Boston should be able to stay afloat while Kemba Walker is out.
⋅ The Bucks were called for a defensive 3-second technical foul with just under five minutes left in the second quarter, and Brown stepped to the line. There were no true sharpshooters on the floor with him, but it was still a bit of a surprising choice for a career 67.8-percent shooter who had struggled mightily up to that point in the game.
But Brown drained the shot, and that may have ignited his powerful flurry which closed the half. Brown scored 10 points over the final 2:32 of the second quarter, including a pair of deep 3-pointers. This Boston offense will face challenges while Walker is out, and the Celtics will need big bursts from Brown most nights.
⋅ It was slightly surprising when Thompson, who missed both preseason games due to a hamstring injury, joined Daniel Theis in a double-big starting lineup. Stevens was probably looking for some length and size to combat Antetokounmpo’s drives to the basket, but the experiment did not work all that well in the opening quarter as the Bucks exploded for one transition opportunity after another.
⋅ It was a relatively quiet start for Tatum, but he is a rare player who can turn a sleepy night into a dominant one rather quickly. The All-Star forward poured in 10 points over a stretch of just 1 minute, 32 seconds, starting late in the third quarter and ending early in the fourth, when a floater gave Boston its largest lead at 103-86.
⋅ Payton Pritchard, the 26th pick of last month’s draft, checked in late in the first quarter, providing further evidence that he is ahead of 14th pick Aaron Nesmith in the rotation. Pritchard had a welcome-to-the-NBA moment soon after when Antetokounmpo came barreling toward him to complete a three-point play on a fast-break. A few minutes later, though, Pritchard drilled a deep 3 from the left arc.
He did not appear out of place during his stint.
⋅ Teague and Grant Williams were Boston’s first two subs. In the first half, Teague continued his excellent play from the preseason, tallying 13 points and 3 assists in 13 minutes. He added two more 3-pointers during Boston’s third quarter run that blew the game open. He brought a steadiness to the offense and his poise will be a huge asset with Walker out.
⋅ A rare occurrence: The Celtics made 7 of 15 first-quarter 3-pointers, and four of the misses were air-balls.
⋅ If Gordon Hayward had returned or the Celtics had orchestrated a sign-and-trade that brought players back in return, Boston was unlikely to exercise its team option to bring Semi Ojeleye back. But neither of those things happened, and the fourth-year wing had a first-half stint that was among the best of his career.
He had a tough finish on a three-point play, fed Thompson with a nice feed inside for a layup, and drilled a deep 3-pointer. That stretch helped get him off the bench as Boston’s first sub of the second half.
⋅ The Celtics honored franchise legend Tommy Heinsohn with a moment of silence prior to the game and a tribute video during it. Also, Boston’s players wore warmup T-shirts that said ‘Tommy’ on them.
Heinsohn, 86, who died from renal failure on Nov. 9, was elected to the Hall of Fame both as a Celtics player and as a coach, and worked as the team’s color commentator since 1981.
⋅ The Celtics lowered some of their NBA championship banners and placed them behind the hoops as a way to conceal the cavernous Garden.
⋅ Marcus Smart is a two-time first-team All-Defense selection, and if Antetokounmpo forgot, he received a quick reminder. Smart drew three offensive fouls on Antetokounmpo, and followed up a pair in the third quarter by stripping him.
On offense, Smart did well in a distributing role, finishing with seven assists.
Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @adamhimmelsbach.
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