Celtics vs. Bulls preview, injury report: Why Boston can’t expect another blowout

Celtics vs. Bulls injury report, how to watch and what to watch for as Boston opens NBA Cup play four days after a 134-99 blowout of Chicago.

Oct 26, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard (11) goes through the legs against Chicago Bulls guard Buddy Hield (7) during the second half at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Four days after the Celtics beat Chicago 134-99, the Bulls are back at TD Garden. This time the game counts toward the NBA Cup: it’s Boston’s first group-play game of the tournament. 

Broadcast details

Tip-off: 7:30 p.m. ET, TD Garden
TV: NBC Sports Boston

NBA

Officials: 

Pat Fraher (#26) Nate Green (#41) Scott Twardoski (#52)

Injury report

• Celtics: Devin Carter is out with mononucleosis.
• Bulls: Nic Claxton (hamstring) is out but has started conditioning. Patrick Williams (groin) and Tobe Awaka (ankle) and Jalen Smith (finger) are questionable.

Here's your full-season Celtics guide, with the full roster, schedule, salaries, and more.

What happened Monday

Boston led by as many as 40 and never trailed, shooting 21-of-44 from three (47.7%) while holding Chicago to 12-of-44. The Celtics got 14 steals, turned Bulls mistakes into 39 points and outscored Chicago 39-21 in the third quarter to put the game away. Payton Pritchard went 7-10 from three (5-5 in the third) for 28 points, Jayson Tatum added 23 points and six assists, and the bench scored 79 points.

What I’m Watching For

Cleaning up the turnovers: The Celtics’ live-ball turnovers led to a big second quarter run by the Bulls on Monday. Those have to go away. They are killers. The dead-ball turnovers aren’t great either, but the Celtics will live with them if they happen in good faith.

“A lot of them are trying to make the right play,” Joe Mazzulla said. “Whether it’s bigs being cross matched, they’re blitzing [the] pick-and-roll, kick ahead passes to play faster in transition. So when you want to play that way, the other side of that is the potential for more turnovers, and as long as they’re plays with the right intention and put us in position to take advantage of two on ones, we just got to keep repping it.”

Hammering Chicago with execution: The Celtics cannot come into this game overconfident and thinking they’ll just breeze their way to another 35-point win. They need to understand that it’s the crisp execution and precision that will lead to a repeat of Monday’s blowout. They can’t just count on Payton Pritchard getting hot. 

This is the first of eight games in 13 nights, six of which are on the road. A big early test is coming, so messing around and making this game more difficult than it needs to be will prove costly down the road.

Big man chemistry: This is the key to everything I just wrote. It’s going to take a little while for everyone to figure out the timing, especially as Mitchell Robinson continues to get into shape. This is a big source of the turnovers, so we need to see progress, even incremental progress, each game. 

“I think he’s learning kind of what we want from him and what we need from him,” Sam Hauser said of Robinson at practice on Thursday. “It’s not going to happen all at once, but you can see that over four games he’s gotten better with what we’re asking him to do, and that’s set a lot of screens, be active at the defensive end, and rebound.”

Rotations: I understand Paul George playing on the back-to-back on the fourth night of the season after a blowout. Now let’s see how his body responds and how the Celtics use him and others during this eight-game stretch. 

Make sure you come back for postgame coverage here on Celtics On SI, and on the Locked On Celtics podcast.