Payton Pritchard scored a game-high 28 points and Jayson Tatum added 23 points, seven rebounds and six assists as the Boston Celtics routed the Chicago Bulls 134-99 at TD Garden on Monday night. Boston improved to 2-1 while Chicago fell to 1-3 with a two-game losing streak.
The Celtics never trailed, building their lead with a 33-21 first quarter and blowing the game open with a 39-point third quarter. Norman Powell led Chicago with 20 points and four steals, but the Bulls shot just 39% from the field and 27% from three-point range in the loss.
Key Moments: How Boston Pulled Away
Boston set the tone immediately. Paul George opened the scoring with a 25-foot three-pointer off a Tatum assist, and the Celtics never looked back. Tatum closed the first quarter with a driving layup at the buzzer to make it 21-33, capping a stretch in which Boston outscored Chicago 15-3 over the final five minutes of the period.
The Bulls briefly cut the deficit to five points early in the second quarter after a Caleb Wilson dunk and free throw made it 24-33, but Boston answered with a 13-3 run fueled by Sam Hauser, who hit back-to-back shots including a 23-foot three-pointer, and Payton Pritchard, who scored on a running jumper to push the lead to 28-44. Chicago got no closer than five points the rest of the way.
Boston’s third quarter put the game out of reach. The Celtics outscored the Bulls 39-21 in the period, extending what became a 40-point largest lead, the biggest margin of the night according to the official game data.
Top Performers
Pritchard’s 28 points paced all scorers, and Tatum nearly posted a triple-double with his 23-point, seven-rebound, six-assist line. Sam Hauser contributed 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting, including 3-of-4 from three-point range, and finished a team-best plus-36. Paul George scored 16 points and dished two assists while posting a plus-15 mark.
For Chicago, Powell’s 20 points and four steals led the way. Caleb Wilson added 17 points and five rebounds, and Josh Giddey posted 11 points and a team-high four assists. Leonard Miller grabbed a game-high nine rebounds for the Bulls.
Boston shot 49% from the field and 48% from three-point range, hitting 21 of 44 attempts from deep. The Celtics also won the rebounding battle 54-40 and outscored Chicago 46-30 in the paint while generating 17 fast-break points to the Bulls’ eight.
What It Means
The win moved Boston to 2-1 and into a tie with Toronto a half-game behind Philadelphia atop the Atlantic Standings, with the Celtics riding a two-game winning streak. Chicago dropped to 2.5 games behind Central-leading Detroit, now 1-3 with a two-game losing streak. Boston leads the season series 1-0, per the official data.
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