Pritchard's 30 and Tatum's all-round show power Celtics past Bulls 125-111

BOSTON — Payton Pritchard came off the bench to score a season-high 30 points and Jayson Tatum filled the stat sheet with 26 points, seven rebounds and seven assists as the Boston Celtics beat the Chicago Bulls 125-111 on Friday night at TD Garden in a 2026 Emirates NBA Cup Group C matchup. It was Boston's fourth straight win and a result that strengthens its position in the group stage of the in-season tournament. Chicago, meanwhile, lost its fourth consecutive game. The Bulls kept fighting into the final quarter, but the hole they dug in the first two periods proved too deep to climb out of. This was far from a two-man show for Boston. Paul George contributed 18 points, six rebounds and eight assists, impacting the game at every level. Neemias Queta added 13 points and Mitchell Robinson chipped in 11, giving the Celtics a real interior presence. Five Boston players reached double figures, with the remaining 27 points spread across the rest of the rotation. The game was effectively decided in the first quarter. Boston poured in 44 points in the opening 12 minutes while holding Chicago to 25. A 29-9 run in that period put the hosts firmly in control, and the Celtics shot 66.7 percent from the field in the first quarter, one of their best opening frames of the season. The ball moved quickly, cuts came in waves, and the Bulls' defense was repeatedly pulled out of position. Boston stayed hot in the second quarter, adding 34 more points to take a 78-49 lead into halftime. The Celtics shot 63 percent from the field in the first half but made just 8 of 22 attempts from beyond the arc, meaning their scoring came largely from two-point range and interior play. The 78-point half was the second-highest in franchise history, four points shy of the Celtics' record of 82 for a half. Pritchard was the standout of that stretch. He had 20 points by halftime and finished with 30 to lead all scorers. His production off the bench mattered because it relieved the scoring burden on Tatum and gave Boston's second unit the confidence to stay on the floor for extended minutes. Pritchard did not just spot up from deep — he created space in pick-and-roll actions and made life difficult for Chicago's reserves all night. Chicago came out of the locker room with intent and opened the third quarter with an 18-8 run, briefly raising its defensive pressure and forcing Boston to operate in the half court. But the Celtics steadied themselves and closed the period leading 99-74. The Bulls outscored Boston 25-21 in the third, yet the 25-point cushion held. In the fourth, Chicago made a late push and won the quarter 37-26, cutting the final margin to 14. Overall, a 25-point lead after three quarters shrank to 14 by the final buzzer — evidence that the Bulls never quit, but also that they lacked the consistency required to make a genuine game of it. Caleb Wilson led Chicago with 23 points, including six 3-pointers. Norman Powell added 16, and Jalen Smith grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds. Seven Bulls players scored, a group that also included Josh Giddey, Matas Buzelis, Noa Essengue and Tre Jones. That balance was also Chicago's problem: the scoring was spread out, but nobody delivered a dominant performance. As a team, the Bulls shot poorly. They finished at 37.6 percent from the field and made just 15 of 50 attempts from 3-point range — exactly 30 percent. Those 50 attempts accounted for nearly half of Chicago's total field-goal tries, a clear sign that the Bulls tried to open the game from the perimeter and simply could not convert. When the outside shots stopped falling, Boston's defense grew more aggressive and Chicago ran out of answers. The loss was Chicago's fourth in a row. The two teams had met earlier in the week, on Monday, when Boston won 134-99. That made Friday the second meeting in five days, and Boston won both by more than 20 points — a 35-point margin on Monday and 14 on Friday. The Bulls showed modest improvement; the result did not change. In the context of Group C, the win matters for Boston. Every group-stage game counts toward both points and net rating, and a 14-point victory keeps the Celtics firmly in the knockout-round conversation. For Chicago, the group stage is becoming increasingly difficult after a fourth straight defeat. The biggest takeaway for Boston is that its bench is as dangerous as its starting five. Pritchard's 30-point night was his best of the season and came from a player who enters the game after tip-off. When a second-unit guard can score 30, opposing defenses cannot simply load up on one player. Tatum's 26-7-7 line was another reminder that he is the engine of the team, not just a scorer. He contributed as a scorer, rebounder and playmaker in equal measure and kept Chicago's defense guessing all night. When the Bulls sent a double team, he found the open man; when they switched, he attacked one-on-one. George's role was equally important. With 18 points, six rebounds and eight assists, he served as a secondary playmaker and, alongside Tatum, pulled Chicago's defense in two directions at once. Queta's 13 and Robinson's 11 showed that Boston's interior game is functioning too, which matters over the course of a long season. Chicago's biggest concern is its perimeter shooting. A team cannot win consistently in the modern NBA at 30 percent from 3-point range, especially when its opponent is scoring 125. Wilson's six threes were the lone bright spot, and support from the rest of the roster never arrived. Powell's 16 points were useful, but he could not single-handedly push a 111-point total any higher. Defensively, the Bulls surrendered 44 points in the first quarter — a red flag by any measure. Boston shot 66.7 percent in the opening 12 minutes, which means Chicago's perimeter and interior defense both failed. The 18-8 run to open the third showed there is fight in this team, but one good defensive quarter does not erase a 25-point deficit. Looking ahead, Boston's challenge is sustaining this level while managing minutes across both the Cup group stage and the regular season. Pritchard's form is a significant relief, because it adds depth to the rotation and reduces the load on Tatum. For Chicago, this is a difficult stretch. After a fourth straight loss, the team needs to reconsider its shot-selection philosophy. Taking 50 threes is aggressive, but when only 15 fall, the strategy becomes counterproductive. The Bulls need to generate points inside and put pressure on the free-throw line so that perimeter shots become available on better terms. In the end, the story of this game is simple: Boston won it in the first 24 minutes and managed it in the second 24. A 78-49 halftime score, Pritchard's 30 off the bench and Tatum's 26-7-7 tell the whole tale. Chicago's 37-point fourth quarter showed it was still competing, but the cost of its slow start was a fourth consecutive defeat.