In their final game before the NBA All-Star Break, the Boston Celtics destroyed the Chicago Bulls 124-105 at TD Garden on Wednesday night.
Coming off one of their worst losses of the season after getting blown out by the New York Knicks on Super Bowl Sunday, the Celtics bounced back in a big way. Boston raced out to a fast start and the game was essentially over by halftime, as the home team already led 72-44 by that point.
NBA All-Star starter Jaylen Brown led the way for the Celtics with 24 points, four rebounds and four assists. Payton Pritchard also had a big game off the bench with a game-high 26 points and eight assists.
Nikola Vucevic dominated his former team in his first game against them since being traded last week, recording a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds in 26 minutes off the bench.
Meanwhile, Anfernee Simons got a nice applause in his first game back at TD Garden since being dealt to the Bulls last week in the Vucevic trade. He struggled with his shot, however, scoring just seven points on 3-of-9 shooting from the floor, including 1-of-6 from deep.
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With the game already in hand, Joe Mazzulla was able to rest his starters a bit in the second half and give his bench some run. Jordan Walsh scored 16 points in 29 minutes, while Ron Harper Jr. played 16 minutes.
After winning six of their last seven games, the Celtics enter the All-Star Break with a 35-19 record and the second seed in the Eastern Conference behind the Detroit Pistons. After getting a full week off, they’ll look to pick up where they left off when they kick off a four-game road trip against the Golden State Warriors next Thursday.
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