BOSTON — History will remember this Boston Celtics win over the Chicago Bulls as a 35-point blowout, but there was a little stretch early on that featured some important basketball before Payton Pritchard changed the dynamic of the game with a monster third quarter where he scored 19 of his 28 points.
Here’s a look at how the individual players performed in the 134-99 thumping of the Bulls.
STARTERS
Jayson Tatum (23 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal): A
He set the early tone with his passing, notching three assists in his first five minutes of the game. Right now I think he’s looking for guys to get them going early, especially Paul George, who hit two quick threes to get the Celtics an early lead. He had a few more missed layups and he shot 7-17 (41.2%), so that has to be a point of emphasis as the season rolls on. He still has to play through contact a little more often, but he got to the line eight times (one was a technical free throw), so it wasn’t a big deal in this game.
Paul George (16 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists): B
He hit those two opening threes but then was 1-5 after that. He shot 5-14 overall, so that part of his game Monday night was off, but he was still contributing on the boards and defensively. Solid night overall.
Mitchell Robinson (7 points, 7 rebounds): B
Three of his rebounds were on the offensive glass, which is part of why he’s here. He was connecting with Tatum but he’s still working on the connection with Derrick White. There was also a funny moment when he was looking to set a screen but Paul George was looking to hit him in the high post, and the ball sailed out of bounds. He turned to George and said “was that for me?” And then he acknowledged it was his fault. So there's plenty to work on for Robinson.
Jordan Walsh (8 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals): B-
Walsh is probably going to be somewhere around a B for most of the season, which is fine. He missed both of his threes and he had three turnovers, which is not fine. But the steals, rebounds, and general defensive effort is why he’s on the floor. Joe Mazzulla has clearly decided that he needs a big-time defender in that first group, and Walsh is the guy. If he’s going to be there, though, he needs to be at least close to a league average three-point shooter.
Derrick White (5 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 6 turnovers): B+
A few of these turnovers were trying to get the ball to Robinson and not being able to connect. The passing was just off in an otherwise good game for White. He only took four shots on a night Boston scored 134 points, which is something you probably won’t see very often. He also got his first block of the season.
BENCH
Payton Pritchard (28 points (10-16 fg, 7-10 3pt), 4 assists, 2 steals): A
He absolutely rained hellfire on the Bulls in the third quarter, where he was a perfect 5-5 from three and scored 19 of his points.
“it just feels good to catch a rhythm again,” he said after the game. “Just bounce back from the other night. I've kind of mentioned it, but I just have slow starts to the season. Just catching a rhythm like this and being aggressive was my main mindset. That was good to see it go in."
Pritchard admits he needs to be more aggressive sometimes, so hopefully this is the beginning of an upward trend there.
Neemias Queta (7 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks): B+
His rim protection was an underrated aspect of that third quarter Celtics run.
Hugo Gonzalez (13 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists): A-
He checked into a four-point game, scored seven quick points, and helped the Celtics extend the lead to double-digits. He also had a huge block at the end of first half that led to a Tatum three and a 12-point lead.
People will forget that this game was close in the first half. Gonzalez was a big reason why the Celtics were able to keep the Bulls at arms length long enough for Pritchard to end things.
Sam Hauser (11 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist): B+
Quick … tell me who the Celtics leader in +/- minus is this season. Yeah, it’s Hauser, who is a cumulative +49 through three games. He just keeps putting up solid performances. His floor-spacing, timely shooting, and underrated “other things” keep making a positive impact.
Luka Garza (6 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists): B
All three rebounds were offensive, and he got fouled on a couple of other offensive rebounding attempts, so theoretically that should count as five. And Baylor Scheierman got one of his offensive boards because the Bulls were sick of Garza and were too focused on boxing him out.
Baylor Scheierman (2 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal): B-
His shot was off, but he did other things to help.
OTHER NOTES
Mike Conley got a few minutes in his Celtics debut and hit both of his three-pointers. Chris Cenac Jr. also made his debut and hit his first ever three.
https://x.com/celtics/status/2114927527034769731
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