Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum combined for 50 points Monday night, leading the Boston Celtics past the Chicago Bulls 119-103 at the United Center in Chicago.
Boston (10-6) took the lead for good after trailing early on when Tatum hit a jumper 2:41 into action. Chicago (7-10), after trailing by nine would get within two early in the second quarter, before the Celtics pushed it to their biggest lead of the half at 11. They would start the third quarter on a 14-2 run to take their biggest lead of the night when Tatum hit a three-pointer making it 74-52. The Bulls sliced the margin to nine about three minutes into the fourth on a Lauri Markkanen layup, before the guests again made a run of 14-2 to push it back to 108-87 to put the game away. Boston has won two in a row following a three game losing streak.
Brown had 26 points and five rebounds, while Tatum had 24 with four rebounds and five assists. Daniel Theis added 19 points off the bench, and Marcus Smart had 13 to go along with five rebounds and 11 assists. Tatum returned after missing five games due to COVID-19. Boston for the second straight game shot well from the field at 51%, and hitting 52% (15-29) from the three-point arc. Zach Levine led Chicago in the loss with 30 points, six rebounds, and three assists. The Celtics are scheduled to travel to San Antonio Wednesday night to take on the Spurs.
