Matt Velazquez

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

It was all treats and no tricks for the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday.

Not only did the team finish October with an unblemished 7-0 record, but the Bucks also got their star back as Giannis Antetokounmpo practiced and was cleared from the league's concussion protocol heading into Thursday's 7 p.m. game against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden.

“I’ve done everything possible – all the testing, I’ve practiced," Antetokounmpo said Wednesday at the team's Sports Science Center. "I feel great right now, so I’m ready to play.”

While the Bucks played well without Antetokounmpo on Monday, beating the similarly-depleted Toronto Raptors, 124-109, the one-game absence was a scary one for Antetokounmpo. He had never dealt with a concussion or its symptoms before and the experience was eye-opening.

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"Previously I didn’t know much about concussions and stuff like that," Antetokounmpo said. "To be honest with you, I thought a concussion was a way to be soft. I know a lot of people suffer from it, but I never did. When you've never suffered from something, you don't know about it. When I got hit in the head and had the short memory loss, then I realized it's a serious thing.

"It's kind of scary because, you know, you get hit in the head and you feel pain for 10 seconds. But it was lingering and I had a headache the next day and it was kind of bad, but at the time, I felt – I’m Giannis – I felt great. I wanted to play. … I think the NBA medical staff did a great job protecting me, keeping me out of the game."

The next challenge for Antetokounmpo and the Bucks comes in the form of a familiar foe. Last season, the Celtics outlasted the Bucks in the first round of the playoffs, dominating the decisive Game 7 at TD Garden. The home team won every game of the series.

For Thursday's early-season marquee matchup on TNT, both teams will finally have their full cores together. Antetokounmpo will be suited up, as will Boston stars Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward who were both sidelined by injuries during the playoffs.

“They’re one of the top teams in the East," Antetokounmpo said. "We’re one of the top teams in the East also. It’s going to be a good test for us.”

Although the Bucks head to Boston with the better record by virtue of being the lone NBA team without a loss, what does it mean to them to be unbeaten heading into November?

“Not a lot," coach Mike Budenholzer said.

“Nothing. We’ve still got a lot of work to do," point guard Eric Bledsoe added.

"We’re playing at a high level, but for the rest of the season it doesn’t honestly mean much," guard Malcolm Brogdon said. “We’re not a team that’s gotten too high on our horse."

Regardless of what the records say, Boston remains the team to beat in the Eastern Conference. It was the Celtics who, without Irving and Hayward, pushed LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers to seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals last year. Now, with their deep, talented team intact, the Celtics are widely considered the cream of the East until proven otherwise.

Heading into Wednesday's games, Boston (5-2) owned the best defense in the NBA in terms of efficiency – the Bucks rank second – and is the only team holding opponents to a scoring average under 100 points (97.6) in the league. That's saying something considering the massive scoring spike thus far.

Offensively, the Celtics seem like they haven't hit their stride yet and with all the weapons at coach Brad Stevens' disposal, Boston could be in for a major jump when it does get going.

The Bucks know they can't change the narrative of the Eastern Conference going through Boston overnight. No matter what they do, they probably won't have the chance to actually change it until springtime when the playoffs roll around. That's when they want to be at their best, with Antetokounmpo projecting they could be "10 times" better by then.

Right now, though, they're just happy to be injury-free, playing well and in a position to exact a small amount of revenge on the Celtics – and possibly earn some more respect in the process.

“No, but it doesn’t really matter," Antetokounmpo said when asked if the Bucks are getting enough respect for their quality of play through seven games. "We’re always going to play with a chip on our shoulders no matter if we’re 7-0, 10-0, 15-0 or we’re losing. We’re going to play the same way. I don’t think we’re getting as much attention and respect as we should.”