Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics were not in a giving mood on Christmas Day against the Milwaukee Bucks in their confrontation at TD Garden. The Celtics blew out the Bucks 139-118, and Tatum got the best of Giannis Antetokounmpo by outscoring him 41-27.

Tatum has made a habit of regularly outplaying MVP rivals throughout the NBA by either outscoring them or leading Boston to victory in their confrontations. The Celtics are 7-0 in these confrontations, and Tatum has outscored 5 of his 7 rivals in their matchups.

Tatum has outscored Joel Embiid of the 76ers, Ja Morant of the Grizzlies, Nikola Jokic of the Nuggets, Devin Booker of the Suns and Giannis of the Bucks. Luka Doncic (by 5 points) of the Mavericks and Kevin Durant (2 points) of the Nets have both outscored Tatum, but their teams were beaten in those games.

Tatum and running mate Jaylen Brown combined for 70 points in the win over the Bucks. Both Celtics had remarkable shooting days, as Tatum connected on 14 of 22 shots, including 3 of 7 from beyond the arc. Brown made 11 of 19 shots, and he made 5 of 9 3-point shots.

Tatum also had 7 rebounds and 5 assists while registering 3 steals.

Giannis also had an excellent game with 27 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists, but he was not as sharp as Jayson Tatum. Giannis made 9 of 22 shots from the field, but just 1 of 5 from beyond the arc.

The Celtics have won 2 games in a row and appear to be righting themselves after a slump that saw them lose 5 of 6 games. The Bucks have lost 3 games in a row, their longest losing streak of the season.