Daniel Theis scored a career-high 22 points on Saturday and Boston opened the game with 17 consecutive points as they rolled to an easy 133-77 victory over hosts the Chicago Bulls.
Jaylen Brown scored a team-best 23 points and Jayson Tatum hit four three-point attempts while scoring 18 points as the Celtics won their season-best fifth straight contest.
Terry Rozier added 15 points, Kyrie Irving and Semi Ojeleye each scored 13 and Marcus Morris tallied 12 for Boston.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Shaquille Harrison scored 20 points, Zach LaVine added 11 and Cameron Payne 10 for the Bulls.
The franchise-worst 56-point defeat occurred in Jim Boylen’s third game as coach.
Boston shot 53.8 percent overall and was 22 of 43 from three-point range. The Bulls shot 38.3 percent and were six of 24 from three-point range.
Chicago missed their first 11 field goal attempts, while the Celtics were scoring the first 17 points. Morris’ dunk with 6 minutes, 12 seconds left capped Boston’s burst.
Jabari Parker’s two free-throws with 5:42 to play were the Bulls’ first points, and Robin Lopez’s basket 36 seconds later was the team’s first field goal.
The Celtics held a 20-point lead on Gordon Hayward’s three-pointer with 33.1 seconds left before settling for a 35-17 advantage.
Boston led 43-21 early in the second quarter after Rozier drained a three-pointer with 9:47 left in the half. LaVine’s three-point play moved Chicago within 48-33 with 6:17 to play, but Marcus Smart knocked down a three-pointer with nine seconds left to give the Celtics a 64-43 halftime lead.
The assault continued in the third quarter as Boston pushed the lead to more than 30 for the first time when Irving buried a three-pointer to make it 83-51 with 5:41 left.
In Saturday’s other games, it was:
‧ Capitals 4, Blue Jackets 0
‧ Mavericks 107, Rockets 104
‧ Lakers 111, Grizzlies 88
‧ Hawks 106, Nuggets 98
‧ Nets 112, Knicks 104
‧ Pacers 107, Kings 97
‧ Cavaliers 116, Wizards 101
‧ T’Blazers 113, Timberwolves 105
‧ Heat 121, Clippers 98
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Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
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CUNNINGHAM CONNECTS: In the Eastern Conference, the Pistons snapped their record 15-game playoff losing streak by beating the Knicks to level their series at 1-1 Kawhi Leonard on Monday scored 39 points on 15-of-19 shooting as the Los Angeles Clippers evened their first-round NBA Playoffs series against the Nuggets with a 105-102 win in Denver. “It feels like he didn’t miss a shot,” James Harden said. “His shot-making ability is elite.” Good thing, too, because his teammates were a combined 26 of 66 for a 39 percent clip. “I made shots tonight,” Leonard said. “I just keep playing, try to stay in the zone no matter if I’m making or missing shots.” The fifth-seeded Clippers needed every bit of his brilliance to snatch the homecourt advantage in the series
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