BOSTON (AP) — Payton Pritchard scored 30 points, and the Boston Celtics raced past the Chicago Bulls 125-111 on Friday night in the NBA Cup opener for both teams.
Jayson Tatum added 26 points in 34 minutes. Paul George finished with 18 points and eight assists for Boston, which has won its last four games.
The Celtics got the lead up to 32 with 1:52 left in the first half. Chicago didn’t cut into the lead until the fourth quarter after Boston’s starters
had already been pulled.
Pritchard paced the Celtics’ attack early, scoring 20 points in the first half in another big night against the Bulls after scoring 28 points in 22 minutes in a Boston win over Chicago on Oct. 26. For the night, he knocked down 9 of 17 shots.
Boston also dominated the game inside, scoring 56 points in the paint.
Caleb Wilson had 23 points for the Bulls, who have lost four straight games. Norman Powell finished with 16 points and Matas Buzelis added 14.
Chicago shot just 38% (35 of 92) from the field and 30% (15 of 50) from the 3-point line
Boston beat Chicago by 35 points on Monday, converting 25 Bulls turnovers into 39 points.
After turning the ball over 25 times in a 35-point loss to Boston on Monday, Chicago had trouble taking care of the ball again on Friday, turning it over 16 times leading to 21 Celtics points.
Bulls: Visit Philadelphia on Monday.
Celtics: Visit Orlando on Sunday.
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