BOSTON – If the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks meet again this season, it will happen in the postseason.

And Friday night felt like a playoff preview between the two Eastern Conference opponents.

The Celtics and Bucks battled in a back-and-forth contest – there were 14 lead changes in the game – before Boston broke through in the fourth quarter to claim a 111-105 win at TD Garden. The Celtics won the three-game regular season series against the Bucks, improving to 19-4. Milwaukee, which won seven of its last eight games, fell to 11-11.

Here are three guys and three duds from the game as Boston’s stars really made the difference:

SUPPORT
Jayson Tatum
Tatum gave his son an outstanding performance for his birthday. Tatum took the lead in the fourth quarter and made a handful of plays that changed the face of the contest. He started the frame by hitting a 3-pointer and then converting a four-point play, then made a read to find Jrue Holiday for a game-winning basket with 25.6 seconds left. Tatum scored 14 of his game-high 34 points in the fourth quarter and shot 12 of 20 from the field. He recorded a double-double by grabbing ten rebounds and also dishing out five assists.

Jaylen Brown
Brown got his game going on both ends of the court. In the first half, he picked up Damian Lillard in the backfield, putting a lot of pressure on the star guard and almost causing a loss of the ball. He also wasn’t afraid to mix it up with Giannis Antetokounmpo again. A little over a minute into the third quarter, Brown scored low on Antetokounmpo and gave him the “too low” gesture. The two then exchanged wordswhich resulted in a technical problem for Brown.

Brown maintained that tenacity by being an offensive leader that night. He scored 25 points on 10 of 21 shooting, along with three assists and three rebounds.

Damian Lillard
The Bucks star is a defensive liability – the Celtics have targeted Lillard often – but he makes up for it on the other end of the court. Lillard showed why he is still one of the NBA’s best scorers by scoring 20 of his team-high 31 points in the first half.

Idiots
Celtics second quarter performance
The Celtics have no problem hitting 3-point shots even when they’re off the floor. And that’s exactly what happened to Boston’s disadvantage in the second quarter. After knocking down 7 of 16 treys in the first frame, the Celtics shot a putrid 0-for-12 from distance in the second quarter. Tatum missed all six of his 3-point attempts in the quarter. Poor shooting allowed the Bucks to outscore the Celtics 30-24 in the stanza and take a 57-53 halftime lead.

Derrick White
The Celtics can usually expect a significant contribution from White in showdowns against top competition. However, it never came from White. He struggled to find his shot as he shot a stunning 1-for-10 from the field and scored just six points.

Bobby Portis
Someone had to tell the Bucks big man to stop shooting Friday night. Portis went 2 of 12 from the field in the first half and became a black hole in Milwaukee’s offense. It seemed like he got the message in the second half as he only attempted three shots. Portis grabbed a game-high 18 rebounds. He should have just stuck with it instead of trying to take on the role of a goalscorer.