Celtics Beat the Bulls 125-111 for Their Fourth Straight Win as Payton Pritchard Scores 30 Off the Bench
Boston outscored Chicago 44-25 in the first quarter, led by 32 in the second and never let its Cup opener get close - the Bulls' second double-digit loss to the Celtics this week.
The Boston Celtics opened NBA Cup group play by running the Chicago Bulls off the floor early and coasting home, 125-111, on Friday night in Boston - their fourth straight win, Reuters reported. Payton Pritchard scored a season-high 30 points off the bench, Jayson Tatum added 26 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, and Paul George had 18 points, six rebounds and eight assists.
The game was decided before halftime. Boston outscored Chicago 44-25 in the first quarter and stretched the lead to as many as 32 in the second, on the way to a season-high 78 first-half points and a 78-49 lead at the break. Chicago opened the third quarter on an 18-8 run to trim the deficit to 86-67, but Boston withstood it and held a 99-74 advantage after three; Tatum's basket with 6:52 left made it 111-88 before the Bulls cut into the margin against Boston's reserves in the final minutes.
Caleb Wilson led Chicago with 23 points, including six 3-pointers, but the Bulls lost their fourth straight while shooting 37.6 percent from the field and 15-of-50 from three. Ball security was the week's recurring failure: after turning it over 25 times in Monday's 134-99 loss to these same Celtics - a defeat that produced 39 Boston points - Chicago gave it away 16 more times on Friday, leading to 21 Celtics points.
Boston, 4-1 and 1-0 in Cup Group C, has now beaten Chicago twice by double digits in five days and won four straight since a season-opening road loss at Detroit. The Celtics visit Orlando on Sunday and play their next Cup game November 6 at Charlotte; the Bulls, 1-5, visit Philadelphia on Monday.
