BOSTON — The Boston Celtics went back and forth with the Chicago Bulls early on, but Jayson Tatum did superstar things to keep Boston in front and the Payton Pritchard landed the knockout punch with a three-point barrage. The Celtics move to 2-1 after a 134-99 win. 

The Celtics started out hot, gave up their early lead, and then built another one thanks to five early Jayson Tatum assists and seven quick points off the bench by Hugo Gonzalez. The Boston lead grew to 16, but a 15-2 Bulls run cut it to three. Boston answered with an 8-1 run to get it back to double digits and take a 12-point lead into the half. The three-pointers really started falling in the third, getting the lead up to 30 heading into the fourth. It was elementary from there.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

Jayson Tatum did everything again: He finished with 23 points, seven rebounds, and six assists. The best way to explain his impact on the first half is with the starter +/-:

Paul George: -3
Derrick White: 0
Jordan Walsh: +4
Mitchell Robinson: +8
Jayson Tatum: +19

Chicago’s runs came with Tatum off the floor, and he was the reason why the Celtics recovered and went into the half up 12

Jayson Tatum is so good pic.twitter.com/VdQJKpEgv4

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) October 27, 2026

Payton Pritchard caught FIRE: He shot 5-5 from three in the third quarter, ballooning Boston’s lead from 10 to 30 in a big hurry. He scored 19 in the third, tying a career high for points in a quarter, and 28 points overall in 21 minutes.

Payton goin OFF 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/62HRL1TenZ

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) October 27, 2026

For some reason he loves getting going in third quarters. He’s put up four 19-point quarters, and three of them have been third quarters.

Hugo Gonzalez came to life: He was +15 at halftime with Boston up 12. He didn’t do much in his first couple of games, but he stormed out of the box hot and made an impact on both ends of the floor. He was also out there for a lot of Pritchard’s explosion so his +/- ballooned along with it, but the halftime impact was very real. 

HUG🚫🚫🚫🚫🚫 pic.twitter.com/z3pypw6H6E

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) October 27, 2026

Jayson Tatum and Mitchell Robinson are figuring it out: The chemistry between these two is growing by the game. 

Mitchell LOBINSON 💥 pic.twitter.com/GhYL1SimOm

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) October 26, 2026

Once these guys realize the awesome potential of their pick-and-rolls, they’ll be very difficult to stop. 

Luka Garza’s offensive rebounding: Back when the Bulls were still in the game, Garza checked in and made a strong impact with his offensive rebounding prowess. He only got one, but he was fouled a couple of times as he went up for rebounds, which is essentially the same thing. And on one play, the Bulls were hyper-focused on him and it opened up Baylor Scheierman for an offensive rebound.

WHAT WENT WRONG

The Celtics fouled too much: Obviously it didn't matter too much in the end, but one of the reasons why the game was close in the first half was all the fouling from the Celtics. The Bulls ended up shooting 31 free throws in the game, which is way too much. 

They turned it over a lot: The Celtics’ live-ball turnovers were a big problem in that second quarter Bulls run, and the 24 turnovers in this game was playing with fire. Both teams turned it over 24 times, but Boston cashed in 39 points while the Bulls scored 17. That's not how it will go against good teams.