Banner Town Breakdown: Celtics Lock Horns with Bulls
Greg M. Cooper | USA TODAY
Fresh off a 141-103 win against the Cavaliers, Boston looked to get the ball rolling against the Chicago Bulls (7-9) on the road. Since it was the 2nd night of a back-to-back, however, Kemba Walker would be unavailable due to his ramp-up in play since returning to the lineup.
Walker’s absence was expected out of an abundance of caution, and fortunately, Boston had the return of superstar Jayson Tatum to look forward to. This was the first game back for Tatum as he fought COVID-19 over the past few weeks following the team outbreak after the Wizards game. As of now, all players appear to be in the clear for Boston, which is worth a sigh of relief. With that being said, let’s get cracking!
Boston rolled out another double big lineup variation against Chicago’s frontcourt, which included Lauri Markkanen and Daniel Gafford. The biggest challenge for Boston going into this game was battling young stud Coby White and streaky sharpshooter Zach LaVine. After a promising step in the right direction against Cleveland, Boston needed to come out strong to start and clamp down on the perimeter in order to avoid getting burned from deep. Setting the tone early on both ends was crucial for success.
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown came out swinging, scoring 11 of Boston’s 14 points to start the game off. Boston came out of the gate hot again, shooting 54.2% from the field and 50% from deep in the first quarter. The trio of Tatum/Smart/Brown shot 10/17 from the field combined, which was definitely needed with Walker out. LaVine and White hit multiple shots from deep and battled to keep it close with the quarter wrapping up 33-25.
Chicago still created issues for Boston, but the Celtics still kept a 10 point lead going into halftime. Due to the Pritchard injury, Carsen Edwards, in addition to Aaron Nesmith, saw minutes early on in the game. Nesmith scored 11 points last game on 4/6 shooting and kept his streak alive in the early going a perfect 2/2 from deep in the 2nd quarter. It’s a promising start that he looked to build off from the Cavs performance, and he continued to deliver. Nesmith ended up finishing 3/5 from three on the night.
Boston managed to net a solid lead in the third, but Chicago surged back; even then, Boston held a stranglehold of a lead, 91-76 going into the 4th. Boston held on for a 119-103 win on the road and won every quarter in scoring on the night, with only two lead changes the entire game. Boston had 12 turnovers, but Chicago had 18 and Boston made the most of those opportunities, scoring 34 points off turnovers compared to Chicago’s 19.
Jaylen Brown (26 points, 10/21 shooting, 2/3 from range, 5 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl) and Jayson Tatum (24 points, 10/21 shooting, 3/6 from range, 4 reb, 5 ast) lit the fire for Boston’s win. Daniel Theis (19 points, 8/12 shooting, 3 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl, 3 blk) stuffed the stat sheet as well as Marcus Smart (13 points, 4/6 shooting, 5 reb, 11 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk), with Boston having 4 starters in double figures. Chicago also had 4 scorers in double digits, including Lauri Markkanen (18 points, 7/12 shooting, 3/6 from range, 6 reb, 1 ast), Zach LaVine (30 points, 11/19 shooting, 6/10 from range, 6 reb, 3 ast, 2 blk, 6 to), Otto Porter Jr. (13 points, 4/8 shooting, 4/7 from range, 5 reb, 3 ast, 2 blk), and Thaddeus Young (16 points, 8/11 shooting, 9 reb, 9 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk). Boston is currently expected to play the Spurs on Wednesday at 8:30PM, barring any postponement due to COVID.
