BOSTON, Mass. — Payton Pritchard came off the bench and took over the third quarter Monday night, and the Boston Celtics turned a close game into a 134-99 rout of the Chicago Bulls at TD Garden.
The win lifted Boston to 2-1 on the young season. Chicago slipped to 1-3.
The turning point came after Jayson Tatum picked up his fourth foul in the third quarter and had to sit. Instead of letting the Bulls back in, Boston pressed full court and the bench caught fire. Pritchard scored 19 of his 28 points in that quarter alone, and the Celtics had stretched the margin to 101-73 by the end of the period.
Pritchard made 10 of his 16 shots and hit seven of 10 tries from three-point range. He had managed only four points against the Knicks in the game before.
Tatum still led the early charge with 23 points in 27 minutes. He played the entire first quarter and helped Boston to a 33-21 lead after one. Paul George opened the scoring with a three-pointer, and Hugo Gonzalez added a quick burst of seven points in five minutes off the bench.
Chicago, now under first-year coach Thiago Splitter, leaned heavily on long-range attempts and stayed within reach for a while. Rookie forward Caleb Wilson blocked two shots in the opening six minutes, and Boston got sloppy with ten turnovers in the first half before taking control.
Coach Joe Mazzulla kept an eye on the schedule. No Boston player logged more than 27 minutes, and Mike Conley, Luka Garza and the rest of the reserves closed out the fourth quarter. Rookie Chris Cenac Jr. hit a three-pointer late for his first NBA points.
The quick turnaround comes Tuesday night, when the Brooklyn Nets visit TD Garden for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.
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