Pritchard Scores 19 in One Quarter, Celtics Turn a Seven-Point Lead Into 31 in Nine Minutes and Beat Chicago 134-99

Here's the thing about a 35-point win in October: it tells you a little and it lies to you a little. What the Celtics did to the Bulls on Monday at TD Garden, a 134-99 final, tells me the bench can win a quarter by itself. What it doesn't tell me is whether Boston can do that against a team that's not lottery-bound. Keep both in your head.

The key stretch was the third quarter. Boston led 66-59 at the half and 104-73 by the end of the third, according to the team's game recap. It took nine minutes for a seven-point lead to become 31. Jayson Tatum sat with four fouls and the Celtics outscored Chicago 36-11 over the final 7:31 of the quarter without him, per the team's numbers. Payton Pritchard, Paul George and Sam Hauser combined for 35 points in that quarter.

Pritchard was the story. He finished with a game-high 28 points in 21 minutes off the bench, 10-for-16 from the field and 7-for-10 from three, with four assists and a plus-22. He scored 19 in the third quarter on a perfect 5-for-5 from deep, which ties his career high for points in a quarter, and he became the eighth player in franchise history to hit at least five threes in a quarter without a miss, according to the team. The Boston.com recap walked through the sequence: a transition three with 5:39 left, a kick-out to Hauser, a turnaround jumper, a steal and another Hauser three, and then a between-the-legs step-back over Buddy Hield that ended with Pritchard running back down the floor talking trash.

Joe Mazzulla wasn't interested in the heat-check angle. "I don't really consider any of his shots heat checks, because that's who he is and that's when he's at his best," the coach said. Pritchard had a quieter answer for his slow starts to recent seasons. "It's 100% my aggression," he said. "It's not just about taking shots, to be honest. ... It's about how I attack. Am I touching the paint? Am I pushing the pace?" He had scored four points on 1-for-5 shooting against the Knicks on Friday, Boston.com noted, and Monday was the first time this season anyone saw the player who signed that extension.

Tatum finished with 23 points, seven rebounds and six assists on 7-for-17 shooting. He was 1-for-6 early and then hit a run of tough jumpers to reach 19 points, six rebounds and five assists by halftime, Boston.com reported, before the fourth foul sat him. He still logged a team-high 27 minutes, which matters with the second half of a back-to-back coming Tuesday. George scored 16 on 5-for-14, and the paper noted that his defense has been a revelation. Boston.com said he gave the Celtics what they needed in each of the first three games: 38 points in the opening loss to the Pistons, a supporting role against the Knicks and floor spacing against Chicago.

The rest of the box score is lopsided in all the ways you'd expect. Boston's bench outscored Chicago's 79-33. The Celtics shot 21-for-44 from three (47.7 percent), won the rebounding battle 54-40 including 19 offensive boards, and led wire to wire by as many as 40. Both teams committed 25 turnovers and drew 28 fouls. Jordan Walsh and Derrick White each had three steals. Hugo González added 13 points, six rebounds and four assists off the bench with a block that Boston.com singled out, and Mazzulla said the best version of him "was louder" than his earlier minutes.

Two debuts came late. Mike Conley, 39, made his first appearance in a Boston uniform and went 2-for-2 from three, becoming, per the NBC Sports Boston broadcast cited by Boston.com, the fourth-oldest player to take the floor for the franchise behind Robert Parish, Shaquille O'Neal and Joe Johnson. Nineteen-year-old Chris Cenac Jr. made his NBA debut and hit a three for his first regular-season basket.

Boston is 2-1. The Celtics play the Nets on Tuesday at TD Garden at 7:30 p.m., the second night of a back-to-back, and then host the Bulls again Friday to open the NBA Cup's East Group C slate. Boston.com called November the Celtics' most difficult month of the year. Here's my bet: Tuesday's rotation will lean on rest for the starters, and the question is whether the bench that took Chicago apart can do it against an opponent that doesn't foul out its best defenders. We'll find out soon enough.