Two days after the Boston Celtics suffered their sixth loss of the NBA season at the hands of the Chicago Bulls, they took the court in Chicago with a chance for revenge. This time, they left nothing on the table. The Celtics dominated Chicago in the paint and rode a strong third quarter to a comfortable win over their Eastern Conference foes, 123-98.
Jayson Tatum was the story tonight, absolutely dominating the Bulls on every level. He led all scorers with 43 points on the night, shooting 16-of-24 from the field (9-of-15 from three), and he recorded a recorded a ridiculous triple-double in the process, finishing with 16 rebounds and 10 assists. He was the second player in NBA history to record at least 40-15-10 with nine made threes (James Harden, 2016). Kristaps Porzingis added an efficient 22 points, and Jaylen Brown added 19. Meanwhile, the Bulls struggled to create offense, shooting 38% from the field and 33% from three-point range.
The Celtics did not look like they would have an easier path tonight than they did in Thursday loss. After cashing in on 19 threes last time around, the Bulls continued their hot outside shooting, knocking down six in the first quarter on heavy volume (13 attempts). Boston aided them along by struggling heavily on their own attempts from deep. They connected on just one of their first six attempts and finished 3-of-10 for the quarter. Chicago shot poorly from inside the arc, however, headlined by several missed dunks. The two teams were tied after one, 28-28.
The Bulls’ hot shooting began to cool in the second quarter. They followed their early barrage with just three three-pointers in the second frame, and alongside their continued struggles at the rim, they began to lose their grip as the time ticked forward. With Tatum and Brown both cooking — they combined for 31 first half points — the Celtics surged ahead. They took a seven-point lead into the halftime break, 61-54.
The missing ingredient for the Celtics in the first half was three-point shooting. They opened the game on a cold spell and it endured for the remainder of the half. As play resumed in the third quarter, though, they finally started to find a bit of a rhythm. Their lead held just short of the 10-point threshold for much of the quarter, as their three-point percentage inched into some semblance of respectability.
It was inside the arc where the Celtics earned their bread, however. They continued to attack Chicago relentlessly inside the paint, piling up 48 points in the paint through three quarters of play. Leading the way was a huge effort from Tatum, scoring 18 points to crack 30 for the game before the fourth quarter began. Chicago had no answer for the onslaught, and the Boston lead surged to a game high 16 as the quarter drew to a close. The Celtics led 93-77 entering the final quarter.
The only drama remaining in the fourth quarter was whether or not Tatum would record the lone assist he needed to complete his triple-double. He started the frame on the bench, and the Celtics rattled off an 11-2 run to surpass a 20-point advantage over the Bulls, calling into doubt whether Tatum would even return to the court to get a chance. Tatum ultimately did return, and put an exclamation point on his stellar night — he picked up the assist to finish off the triple-double, and secured the first 40-15-10 game in Celtics history in the process.
Next up, the Celtics will travel to Orlando for a showdown with the injury-diminished Magic at 7 PM EST on NBC Sports Boston.
