Payton Pritchard came off the bench to score a game-high 26 points and Nikola Vucevic added 19 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Boston Celtics to a 124-105 victory over the visiting Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night.
Vucevic was traded to Boston last week in a deal that sent Anfernee Simons from the Celtics to the Bulls. Simons had seven points and five rebounds in the loss.
Pritchard added eight assists and five rebounds for Boston, which shot 51.6% from the field. The Celtics, who shot 40% (18 of 45) from 3-point territory, received 24 points from Jaylen Brown.
Jordan Walsh (16), Sam Hauser (12) and Baylor Scheierman (10) also scored in double figures for the Celtics.
Rob Dillingham scored a team-high 16 points for the Bulls. Chicago’s Matas Buzelis had 15 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots.
Collin Sexton tossed in 15 and Guerschon Yabusele finished with 13 for Chicago, which was outrebounded 48-34.
The loss stretched Chicago’s losing streak to six games. The Bulls have lost nine of their last 10.
Josh Giddey, Chicago’s leading scorer among players it has had all season (18.6 ppg), missed his eighth consecutive game with a left hamstring strain.
Boston ended the first quarter with a 14-4 run and led 36-27 after 12 minutes. The Celtics outscored the Bulls 36-17 in the second quarter to build a 72-44 halftime lead.
Boston shot 58.3% from the field in the first half (28 of 48), when it made 10 of 19 3-point attempts. Boston also had a 28-13 rebounding edge through the first two quarters.
A Hauser 3-pointer extended Boston’s lead to 83-51 with 7:02 left in the third. The Celtics led by 33 points early in the final quarter.
It was Boston’s second victory in three meetings between the teams this season.
