Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) goes to the basket against Chicago Bulls forward Talen Horton-Tucker (22) during the second half at United Center.
Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) goes to the basket against Chicago Bulls forward Talen Horton-Tucker (22) during the second half at United Center.
Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) goes up for a dunk against the Chicago Bulls forward Jalen Smith (7) during the second half at United Center.
Kamil Krzaczynski/Imagn Images
Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) dunks the ball against the Chicago Bulls forward Jalen Smith (7) during the second half at United Center.
Kamil Krzaczynski/Imagn Images
Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) dunks the ball against the Chicago Bulls forward Jalen Smith (7) during the second half at United Center.
Kamil Krzaczynski/Imagn Images
Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) goes up for a dunk against the Chicago Bulls forward Jalen Smith (7) during the second half at United Center.
Kamil Krzaczynski/Imagn Images
Jayson Tatum had 35 points and 14 rebounds and Payton Pritchard came off the bench to score 29 points as the visiting Boston Celtics beat the Chicago Bulls 138-129 on Friday in the fourth NBA Cup game for each team.
Tatum's free throw handed Boston a 125-115 lead with 4:11 to play. Chicago sliced its deficit to three points on Zach LaVine's 3-pointer with 3:05 left but failed to get any closer after that.
Pritchard made 7 of 11 3-point attempts and scored 19 in the fourth quarter. Boston received 21 points from both Kristaps Porzingis and Jaylen Brown.
Chicago fell to 2-2 in the NBA Cup and was eliminated. The Bulls would have advanced as the East Group C champion with a victory.
Any chance Boston had of winning the group disappeared when Atlanta beat Cleveland 117-101 on Friday, since the Hawks beat the Celtics 117-116 in an NBA Cup game on Nov. 12. Atlanta is the East Group C champion with a 3-1 mark. The Celtics, also 3-1, have a slim chance to move on in the tournament as a wild card.
Nikola Vucevic scored 32 points and had 11 rebounds for Chicago in the loss. LaVine added 29 points, hitting four 3-pointers. With his third 3-pointer, he passed Kirk Hinrich for most made treys in franchise history, and he ended the game with 1,051 3-pointers in his Bulls career.
Boston grabbed its first double-digit lead on Porzingis' dunk that put the Celtics in front 23-12 with 5:38 left in the opening quarter. The Celtics extended their lead to 33-20 on Tatum's 3-pointer and led 39-30 after 12 minutes. Boston made 9 of 16 3-point attempts in the opening quarter.
The Bulls used a 16-3 spurt to tie the score 42-42, and an 11-0 run later in the second quarter gave Chicago a 55-46 advantage. Boston answered with a 14-0 run capped by Derrick White's 3-pointer that gave the Celtics a 60-55 edge. It was 67-67 at halftime.
A 13-2 run gave Chicago an 80-72 lead with 8:08 left in the third quarter, but the score was tied 96-96 entering the fourth.
White left the game with a foot injury in the second half and did not return. He finished with 16 points in 24 minutes.
