Jayson Tatum shone with 35 points and 14 rebounds, while Payton Pritchard added 29 from the bench, leading the Boston Celtics to a 138-129 victory over the Chicago Bulls in their fourth NBA Cup game.
Game Highlights:
Boston seemed unstoppable when Tatum made a free throw, pushing their lead to 125-115 with just over four minutes left. Chicago tried to rally back, closing the gap to three points thanks to a Zach LaVine three-pointer, but couldn’t get closer. Pritchard was on fire, hitting seven out of eleven shots from beyond the arc and scoring 19 points in the final quarter alone. Kristaps Porzingis and Jaylen Brown each contributed 21 points for Boston.
Payton Pritchard tonight became the 6th Celtic to make at least 5 3-pointers in a 4th quarter.
Payton Pritchard (11/29/24): 5-6 3P
Evan Fournier (4/2/21): 6-8 3P
Isaiah Thomas (12/30/16): 6-8 3P
Eddie House (4/15/09: 5-6 3P
Dee Brown (2/4/98): 6-7 3P
Todd Day (3/9/97: 5-8 3P— Taylor Snow (@taylorcsnow)
Chicago’s Struggle and Standout Performances:
The loss meant Chicago was knocked out of the NBA Cup despite having a balanced record of two wins and two losses. They needed this win to become East Group C champions. Meanwhile, Atlanta secured that title after defeating Cleveland. This leaves Boston hoping for a wild card spot as they also hold a 3-1 record.
The grave digger has arrived ๐ต@FCHWPO's INSANE poster is tonight's @JetBlue Play of the Game
— Boston Celtics (@celtics)
Fans really hope Boston makes it through as a wild card because they’re playing so well lately!
Nikola Vucevic tried his best for Chicago with an impressive performance of 32 points and 11 rebounds. LaVine added another highlight by surpassing Kirk Hinrich’s franchise record for most career three-pointers with his third shot from deep, ending at an astounding total of 1,051 treys.
Quarter-by-Quarter Breakdown:
Boston took control early with Porzingis dunking them ahead by double digits at one point in the first quarter. The Celtics led comfortably at various stages but faced fierce resistance from Chicago throughout. The Bulls tied things up multiple times thanks to strong runs like their initial burst tying it at 42-all or later surging ahead briefly during Q3 before entering Q4 almost neck-and-neck again!
Unfortunately for Boston though Derrick White had some bad luck leaving due injury partway through second halfโheโd managed score sixteen solid minutes prior exiting stage left…
