Post Game - Celtics vs. Chicago Bulls - Saturday, March 23 (W)

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401585651

Celtics-Bulls takeaways: Horford, Hauser step up in ninth straight win

https://sports.yahoo.com/celtics-bulls-takeaways-horford-hauser-023733162.html

Darren Hartwell
Sat, Mar 23, 2024, 10:37 PM EDT·3 min read




Celtics-Bulls takeaways: Horford, Hauser step up in ninth straight win originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Three Key Storylines

Tatum sets the tone early
Hauser, Horford carry shorthanded C's
Kornet does the dirty work

The Boston Celtics had to work to earn their ninth consecutive victory Saturday night.

A pesky Chicago Bulls team kept it close with Boston for three-plus quarters at United Center, but the NBA's best team pulled away late to secure a 124-113 win and improve to a league-leading 11-2 on the second night of back-to-backs.

Jayson Tatum (26 points, six assists), Sam Hauser (23 points) and Al Horford (23 points) paced a Celtics squad playing without three starters (Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday) that hit 21 of 48 3-pointers (43.8 percent) to outlast a Chicago team that trailed by just three points entering the fourth quarter and held a brief lead late in the third quarter.

DeMar DeRozan (game-high 28 points) led a Bulls team that put seven players in double figures and shot 57.3 percent from the floor, but the Celtics outscored Chicago 29-21 in the fourth quarter to improve to 2-0 on their six-game road trip and an NBA-best 57-14 record.

The C's will travel to Atlanta on Monday to take on the Hawks, but before that matchup, here are three takeaways from Saturday's victory in Chicago.

Tatum sets the tone

With the Celtics' leading first-quarter scorer (Jaylen Brown) sidelined, Tatum took it upon himself to get the offense going.

The C's star scored 10 of Boston's 33 points in the first frame on 4 of 9 shooting, marking his fifth consecutive game with at least 10 first-quarter points.



Tatum kept the momentum going with nine second-quarter points to enter the break with 19 points. And while he a relatively quiet second half (seven points on 1 of 7 shooting), two of his teammates picked up his slack in a big way.

Horford, Hauser come up big

The Celtics needed secondary scoring with Brown, Porzingis and Holiday out due to injury, and two key role players obliged.

Al Horford and Sam Hauser combined for 46 points and 12 made 3-pointers in the victory, making the most of their insertion into the starting lineup.

Horford scored 23 points (one short of a season high) on 8 of 16 shooting while hitting 5 of 10 3-pointers -- also his second-highest total of the season -- and scored 12 third-quarter points to help the Celtics withstand a 32-point barrage from the Bulls.

Hauser, meanwhile, stayed red-hot from distance while hitting 7 of 8 3-pointers.



Hauser now has 21 3-pointers in his last three games, which is a new franchise record. The 26-year-old is shooting a blistering 50 percent since the All-Star Break, which ranks first in the NBA among players with at least 30 attempts.




Kornet does the dirty work

This wasn't the Celtics' cleanest game by any means; they committed 12 turnovers and allowed 110-plus points for just the second time in their last five games. But they dominated in the second-chance and offensive-rebound categories -- 23-2 and 12-3, respectively -- thanks in large part to Kornet.

The veteran big man was a force on the boards with a season-high 13 rebounds, including five on the offensive glass. And those stats don't account for several tip-outs to his teammates to keep offensive possessions alive.

Kornet also racked up eight points, four assists and two blocks and was rewarded for his hustle play in the fourth quarter with a perfect lob from Derrick White for the alley-oop slam.



While Tatum was Boston's leading scorer, four Celtics outside the traditional starting five -- Kornet, Hauser, Horford and Payton Pritchard, who added 15 points and a team-high eight assists -- were the engines driving this victory.

Wow, we are good.

Only two starters, Tatum and White, SEGABABA, they're rested and at home, no problem.  They're not a particularly good team, true, but how much more of a handicap could we give them without defaulting because we don't have enough players suited up?

Our defense stunk the whole game.  They were getting into the paint almost at will.  They shot 57% for the game!  They shot 37.5% from 3, which is about league average.  They took 6 ftas fewer than us, but that is because they were fouling us at the end to stop the clock.  We had 12 turnovers vs 7 for them.  They had 7 steals, we only had 5.  They had 36 assists (36!) on 47 fgm, we had 28 on 44.  They had all the stats going their way except for two:  3pt fg% and 3pt fgas.  We took 45 3pt fgas on our 86 fgas.  That's > 52% of our total fgas.  They took 24 out of 82.  We shot 43.8% from 3 while they shot a respectable 37.5%, and there you have it ladies and gentlemen, the game.  We bombed away, effectively, and that made up for the fact they had 16 more points in the paint and had 9 more fast break points than us.  Remember when we used to lose it because Brad was 3-crazy?  Joe's running the asylum, and it's working.

I should say, there was one more stat we won, offensive rebounding (I didn't forget about it, I wanted to give it its own space).  12-3 is a decisive beat down on the glass.  Overall we won 41-29, so a 12 rebound edge overall, but 9 of those were offensive.  They had 82 fgas, we had 86.  How many of those 4 extra fgas came from offensive rebounds?

Luke tied his career high with 13 rebounds, 5 offensive.  The previous time was in 2019 with the Knicks. 4 assists and 1 turnover.  2 blocks.  Compare that to Bulls starting center Nikola Vucevic.  Vuc had 11 points vs Luke's 8, but only 2 rebounds and Vuc is considered a better than average center.  Our #3 big played, no less than, even with a legit NBA starting center.  Some players are late bloomers and Luke's one of them.  Who had this on their bingo card when the season started?

Al with 23 on 8-16, 5-10 from 3.  I can't even remember the time Al took 16 fgas, it must have been back when he was in Atlanta.  8 rebounds, 2 offensive.  37 years old.  Damn.

Pritchard with 15 and 8 assists without any turnovers.  His assist-to-turnover ratio is now 4.34:! which, without looking at other boxscores, would move him up into 8th place in the NBA.

Tatum with an awful 2nd half.  We won, but almost despite him.

Sam the Show, however, earned his pay.  23 points on 8-9, 7-8 from 3.  5 rebounds, 2 steals.  I am really impressed with the effort that Sam (and Payton) have been putting into their defenses.  Didn't see that coming either.  This team has been surprising me all year, in good ways.

DeMar DeRozan with 28 on 12-19, with only 1 3pt fga.  Amazing.  He's a complete throwback to George Gervin.










The Celtics have won 9 straight with 8 different starting lineups. That is depth, and that is chemistry.


Off to Atlanta for a weird double-header. A win in Atlanta, or a loss tomorrow by Milwaukee to OKC, and the East is clinched. I'm rooting for OKC. We have plenty of chances to eliminate the Bucks, but I want OKC over Denver. I want us to stay as far away from The Joker as we can.


Bob


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What a magical season! A championship will be the ultimate validation of the season. It is almost like it is a shock when the Celts lose.

Hats off to Joe Mazzula. Resting key players. Pacing through the season. Developing reserves to play the way that he wants them to play.

I am having a great time this year.

I'm glad Coach Joe is minding the store. He is doing the ultimate preparation work for what all Boston Celtics fans care about...Banner 18. When you get down to the nitty gritty of playoff basketball and championships, the team that wins is the one that makes the fewest errors. The GM of the team that wins is the one that is not perfect, but just enough to be better than everyone else. Everyone can score and play defense and have all the desire to win the championship and the playoff level once you get passed the first couple of rounds.

Do we make mistakes? Absolutely. We made some last night. TO's were back. The occasional lack of defense was back for the whole game. That's why opposing teams like the MIA Heat take great interest in what it takes to beat us. And the way things are looking, we're going to be playing either MIA or PHI in the first round. Book it, Danno.

We typically have PHI's number but we don't need an effing 7-game series with Embiid back and all of Philadelphia trying to complete the feel-good, comeback story of the year with an aging, probably never going to be a champion Embiid.

We also definitely don't need to see MIA unless it is to sweep the ever-loving crap out of them. Make no mistake, they have EVERY intention of mercilessly taking us or MIL out in the first round. And if someone doesn't stop them immediately and/or give them ANY hope, and by any hope I mean even 1 victory, they will do just that and we will be looking at ourselves with our thumbs up...well you get the picture. Take your pick. But I digress.

The team needs to keep moving forward with Coach Joe at the helm. Wouldn't have anybody else there at this time in Celtic History.

db

I had to post this.  How often does The Green Kornet get his own highlight film?

We live in an age of miracles...







Bob


.

dbrown4 wrote:I'm glad Coach Joe is minding the store.  He is doing the ultimate preparation work for what all Boston Celtics fans care about...Banner 18.  When you get down to the nitty gritty of playoff basketball and championships, the team that wins is the one that makes the fewest errors.  The GM of the team that wins is the one that is not perfect, but just enough to be better than everyone else.  Everyone can score and play defense and have all the desire to win the championship and the playoff level once you get passed the first couple of rounds.    

Do we make mistakes? Absolutely.  We made some last night.  TO's were back.  The occasional lack of defense was back for the whole game.  That's why opposing teams like the MIA Heat take great interest in what it takes to beat us.  And the way things are looking, we're going to be playing either MIA or PHI in the first round.  Book it, Danno.  

We typically have PHI's number but we don't need an effing 7-game series with Embiid back and all of Philadelphia trying to complete the feel-good, comeback story of the year with an aging, probably never going to be a champion Embiid.

We also definitely don't need to see MIA unless it is to sweep the ever-loving crap out of them.  Make no mistake, they have EVERY intention of mercilessly taking us or MIL out in the first round.  And if someone doesn't stop them immediately and/or give them ANY hope, and by any hope I mean even 1 victory, they will do just that and we will be looking at ourselves with our thumbs up...well you get the picture.  Take your pick.  But I digress.

The team needs to keep moving forward with Coach Joe at the helm.  Wouldn't have anybody else there at this time in Celtic History.  

db

DBrown,

I agree with what you're saying.  I don't want either one of those teams until we have to.

As far as "TO's were back." goes we had 12 last night.  Our season average is 12.0 turnovers per game.  That ranks us #2 in the league behind Philly, which is averaging 11.8 turnovers per game.  The league average is 13.6 turnovers per game.  We've been SO good with taking care of the ball over the past week or two we've become spoiled.  Over the last 15 games we averaged only 10.1 TOpg.  That's not only #1 in the league, it's #1 by a wide margin.  #2 is Philly with 11.0 TOpg over the last 15. Our .9TOpg edge over Philly is as much as the gap between #2 Philly and #6 Minny. So, compared to that, yeah, we were sloppy as Hell last night.

https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/traditional?LastNGames=10&dir=A&sort=TOV


Bob


.

Geez, Sam and PP are just playing amazing ball.

Hats off to them, but also hats off to CJ and the entire coaching for developing their skills.

It's not easy coming off a game the prior night at less than full strength and facing a team that was ready to play. That Chicago team wanted that game, and we beat them rather easily. It's just beautiful to watch.

The Celtics tied last season's 57 win total with 11 games still remaining in the season.

They also won their 9th straight game and have gone 20-2 since Feb 4th.  They continue their ability to win B2B as they are now 11-2 with just one more B2B games (at home)  

Last year we may have lost this game.  Last year the Bulls beat us 2 times.  Last night the Celtics completed a 3 game sweep for the season.

The in game adjustments to add more quickness paid dividends down the stretch with a 29-21 4th QTR advantage.

The pattern that seems to be developing as we come down the final stretch, is that CJ will rest 2-3 starters and flip flop every other game.  He has the luxury to flip AH and KP, JB and JT and PP has filled in admirably for Jrue.  

There are several prominent player development stories to tell.  Luke Kornet has become something more than a serviceable center.   Sam Hauser has turned into a cold blooded sniper.  He has gotten stronger and rebounds his position quite well.  His overall defense has also shown much improvement.

The brightest light shinning through has got to be Payton Pritchard.  Last year he got buried on the bench because there were 3 experience PG's in front of him.  They could not maximize his skills off the ball because PP is PG that needs to have the ball in his hands.  He only played in 48 games last year and average 13.4 MPG.  

This season PP has played in all 71 games and has averaged 21.5 minutes.  During this month, Payton has played more minutes due to JH being out and other injury/rest associated situations .  In 13 games this month PP is averaging 12 PPG, 4.6 assists and 3.5 rebounds.  His scoring efficiency has been top of the line (48.8% FG, 43.9% 3PM and 7 for 7 from the line - 100%)  Sam Hauser has also been pretty special (12.5 PPG (51.6% FG, 51.2% from deep) and 3.8 rebounds.

Now it is up to Joe Mazzulla to really trust in these guys.  There has to be a higher level of trust no matter who the Celtics are playing.

Why am I mentioning this?

Our 20-2 record was great but we lost 2 road games to the Cavs and to the Nuggets.  Of course a box score review will identify how our top guys performed.  I looked at the production from SH and PP.  For some unknown reason, CJ did not play them their normal minutes in either game.  SH 14 and 10 minutes, PP 13 and 11 minutes.  When your two top rotation scorers are limited, there is a higher probability that you may not be able to score enough points to win.  IMNSHO, these two players have earned their minutes and should be given the same leeway as our top 6.   We clearly have a top 8.

Once the playoffs begins, it is my hope that CJ ignores conventional wisdom about playing your rotation guys less.  The style of play that has propelled the Celtics to the top of the mountain has been characterized by a heavy does of 3 point shots and 3 point makes.  Without Sam and Payton we cannot achieve that in the playoffs.

This has been a really fun month watching the Celts and reading these posts. Both groups of performances have been superb.

bobh,

Good point. I mentioned the TO's as I was stunned because like you said, they were really protecting the ball recently and having games with low single digit TO's then all the sudden we bumped back up to 12. That's still good/not bad by league standards as you point out. To win #18, it's going to have to be everything clicking. We saw what one game did, actually 3 games of goofing off, miraculously squaring the series and then thinking we could win G7 at home. There can been absolutely no resemblance to anything like that on this run.

db