October 27, 2026 at 5:27 AM UTC

Postgame Report

Celtics bury Bulls 134-99 behind Pritchard's 28 off the bench

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Boston beat Chicago by 35 at home, covering a 14.5-point spread with room to spare and putting an unsteady 1-1 start behind it for a night.

The Bulls came to Boston at 1-2 and left having been run out of the building, 134-99. Chicago had spent the early days of the season looking for steadiness, and the Celtics did not give it any. Boston led from start to finish. Chicago used a 15-2 run in the second quarter to get within 46-43, but the Celtics led 66-54 at halftime, won the third quarter 39-21, and were up by as many as 40 in the fourth.

Boston had its own questions coming in. The Celtics opened with a loss to Detroit, then beat the defending champion Knicks, which left them 1-1 and still working out who they are. Monday was cleaner. Payton Pritchard came off the bench and scored 28 points in 22 minutes, making 7 of 10 threes, as Boston hit 21 threes in all. Jayson Tatum added 23 points, seven rebounds and six assists in 28 minutes, and Paul George had 16 in 25. Hugo Gonzalez gave them 13 and Sam Hauser 11. Nobody on the Boston side had to work a long night.

Oddsmakers had made the Celtics a 14.5-point favorite, and the early read was that this Bulls team is better than recent editions. Boston won by 35, more than twice the spread. Norman Powell scored 20 in 24 minutes for Chicago, and Josh Giddey and Matas Buzelis each had 11, but the Bulls could not keep up after halftime. Leonard Miller grabbed nine rebounds in 14 minutes, one of the few bright spots on the Chicago line.

The Bulls were also short up front. Nic Claxton is out with a hamstring injury, and Patrick Williams, who was questionable with a sore groin, did not appear in the game. Noa Essengue, listed with a head contusion, played 16 minutes and had four rebounds. Rookie Caleb Wilson, who had scored 51 points over his previous two games, led all players with 32 minutes and finished with 17 points, five rebounds and three assists. He has been about the only bright spot for a team that came in ranked 27th in net rating. The two teams meet again later this week, and Chicago will want a very different second look.

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