Boston Celtics destroy the Chicago Bulls 124-97 to wrap up their In-Season Tournament group stage
Boston Celtics prospects of competing in the NBA’s first-ever In-Season Tournament depended on
their ability to defeat the Chicago Bulls handily on Tuesday night,
which was also their last group stage match. This came after last week’s devastating loss to the Orlando Magic.
The objective? If the Brooklyn Nets defeat the Toronto Raptors,
they would have a victory of at least 23 points,
which would put them in a position to win their group.
The Celtics did just that, defeating the Bulls by a score of 27 points and handing
the tournament decision to the Nets.
Jaylen Brown scored an effective thirty points on twelve of twenty-three field goals to lead
the game in scoring for the evening.
In addition, Jayson Tatum scored 21 points, and the reserves of the
Celtics scored a scorching 29 points in total, possibly inspired by the $500,000 tournament prize.
Early in the game, the Celtics had the advantage of a fast-paced, energetic tempo that allowed them to move the ball, run in transition, and produce open three-point shots.
A first-quarter standoff gave way to an almost easy-looking 17-3 Boston run, as the team burned the nets,
making 8 of 16 shots from beyond the arc in the first quarter.
At the half, they were ahead 31–20 over the Bulls, with nine points from Brown.
As the second quarter got underway, the Celtics were propelled forward by a well-rounded offensive assault.
Their bench players had a particularly good start for them; Luke Kornet, Dalano Banton,
Al Horford, and Payton Pritchard all put forth chirpy performances that gave the impression they would rather to be playing in Las Vegas the following week.
With just over three minutes left in the half, Horford made his second three-pointer of the game to extend the advantage to over twenty points,
bringing them ever closer to the crucial +23 point differential.
They were well on pace after their second straight quarter of thirty or more points, leading Chicago by nineteen at the half, 69-50.
The Bulls had a near-accident early in the third quarter when DeRozan looked to twist his ankle after landing on Holiday’s foot during a drive to the hoop.
After the injury, DeRozan continued to play in the game,
but he seemed to be struggling a little on the subsequent possessions.
He even hobbling a little bit after fouling White and making two free throws.
Chicago did not appear to be a club that belonged in the same area code as Boston tonight,
even with DeRozan still on the field. As the quarter went on, the Celtics kept expanding their lead,
going over the crucial 23-point threshold and getting closer to 30-point territory.
Leading the charge was Brown, who overcame a string of unimpressive games to lead the Boston attack for the evening.
He had scored 26 points through three quarters,
matching his greatest scoring effort over the previous seven games.
The Celtics led by 29 points heading into the fourth quarter, 97-68.
Even with a sizable advantage, Joe Mazzulla decided to play the starters through the fourth quarter with the IST result still up in the air.
With a three from Banton, the Celtics reached 100 points, but the suspense came from the lead’s narrowing margin—it dropped to 25 points after a few early Chicago baskets.
To be honest, it was an unusual sight for a blowout in November.
As the clock ran out, it would only become stranger.
With just under eight minutes left in regulation, Mazzulla decided to start deliberately fouling Bulls centre Andre Drummond,
putting the 48% lifetime free throw shooter on the line in an attempt to raise their IST ranking.
Mazzulla’s team was up by 29 points at that point. The move paid well,
as Drummond made only one of six free throws as the Celtics extended their advantage back over the 30-point mark with a few minutes remaining in the game.
However, they were unable to connect enough stops to proceed very far, hence the ultimate total
Next up, this Friday at 7:30 PM EST on ESPN, the Celtics will play host to the Philadelphia 76ers in their third meeting of the early NBA season.
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