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D.J. AUGUSTIN LEADS BULLS PAST PESKY, INSPIRED CELTICS

WEEI By Mike Petraglia 
 
D.J. Augustin scored a career-high 33 points and drilled the go-ahead three with just over a minute remaining to lift the Chicago Bulls over the Celtics, 107-103. Rajon Rondo led a balanced attack for the Celtics, with 17 points and 10 assists as six Boston players scored in double figures. Jeff Green and Jared Sullinger each had 16 for the Celtics, who fell to 23-50 on the season.

In a game inspired by the memory of two Boston firefighters who perished in last week’s fire on Beacon Street, the Celtics and Chicago Bulls put on one of the most entertaining games of the season.

Before the game, the Celtics wore warmup shirts with the Boston Fire Department insignia on them. The coaches and non-uniformed staff wore the department patches on their suits.

As for the game, it featured 18 ties and 14 lead changes.

Jeff Green‘s three with 2:40 left in the fourth quarter drew the Celtics to within two, 95-93. After a free throw gave the Bulls a three-point lead, Green’s three with 2:18 left tied the game for an 18th time.

D.J. Augustin’s three with 1:19 left put the Bulls up for good, 99-96. After a Celtics turnover, Augustin added a pair of free throws with 34.8 seconds left to seal the victory for the visitors.

The two teams will meet again Monday night, this time in Chicago, as the 41-32 Bulls look to improve their playoff standing in the Eastern Conference.
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Rapid Reaction: Bulls 107, C's 102

By Chris Forsberg | ESPNBoston.com

BOSTON -- Rapid reaction after the Chicago Bulls defeated the Boston Celtics 107-102 on Sunday evening at TD Garden:

THE NITTY GRITTY
DJ Augustin scored a career-high 33 points on 10-of-14 shooting while making all 10 free throws he attempted in 31 minutes off the Chicago bench. Augustin scored nine straight points for Chicago after Boston tied the game with little more than two minutes to play. Joakim Noah flirted with a triple-double (13 points, 13 assists, 8 rebounds) and the Bulls put all five starters in double figures while shooting 52.9 percent (37 of 70) overall (no small feat for a team that's struggled as much on offense as the Bulls). Rajon Rondo finished with 17 points, 11 assists, and four rebounds over 38 minutes, but had a team-high six turnovers. Boston put six players in double figures while shooting 46 percent overall.

TURNING POINT
The Bulls were up five with little more than three minutes to play and red-hot Augustin looked like he was about to streak to the basket for yet another layup, but Sullinger blocked the attempt from behind the play and Jeff Green -- scoreless since a 10-point first-quarter outburst -- hit a 3-pointer to swing the momentum. With 2:13 remaining, Green hit another triple to tie the game at 96. The Celtics had a chance to pull ahead, but Brandon Bass missed a jumper and -- who else? -- Augustin nailed a triple with 79 seconds to play. He went on to score nine consecutive points for Chicago as the Bulls pulled away.

TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES
Kris Humphries (14 points, 8 rebounds over 22 minutes) got tagged with a technical foul late in the third quarter after being whistled for a loose-ball foul. It was Humphries' first of the season (he got one in Sacramento last month, but it was later rescinded upon video review).

LOOSE BALLS
The Celtics wore black warm-up shirts in honor of the Boston Fire Department and those lost in last week's Back Bay fire. ... The Bulls shot 50 percent beyond the 3-point arc (8 of 16 overall) with Augustin and Jimmy Butler making three triples apiece. ... The Bulls attempted 31 free throws to Boston's 16. ... The game featured 16 lead changes and 19 ties.

WHAT IT MEANS
The Celtics (23-50) have now lost four straight and nine of their last 10 overall. Boston is a half-game ahead of Utah, which owns the fourth-worst record in basketball. The Celtics travel to Chicago to wrap up this home-and-home on Monday night at the United Center. They won't have Rondo, who will sit out the tail end, but provide color commentary during the local broadcast.

112288

This was a close game throughout. Neither team really could pull away from the other. Ultimately, the Bulls' superior execution was the key.

-I seem to remember Kelly making 2 very bad, weak passes that were turnovers, which changed the tide of the game. Despite 3s from Jeff and Sully, the C's were unable to even the score.

-Augustin was on fire, going for 33 points. He's been playing quite well for the Bulls in place of Rose.

-Rondo had another double-double, and is the NBA leader in assists for March, averaging 11.1 per game.

-The Celtics were 40-87 (46% FG), and 10-29 from 3. I can't say I like the emphasis on 3s. Brad has to know that 3s are a low percentage shot.

-The Celtics had 6 players in double figures.


The C's get another shot at the Bulls, and I expect another close game.



KJ

Another game with pretty much more of the same.  Except that this one was close all the way, not requiring a major comeback in the last quarter to get just close enough to lose due to lousy ball control in the last two minutes.

The Bulls had the more aggressive offense.  They didn't settle for three-point attempts (13) nearly as often as the Celtics (29).  The only reason the Bulls didn't have greater than a six-point plurality in points in the paint (40-34) was because the Celts fouled more often in the lane (31-16 freebies).  The Bulls' pick-and-roll game, with Noah on either the picking/passing  or rolling end, what a thing of beauty.  Meanwhile, the Celtics settled far too often for three-point attempts.  Sure, they made 10 of them, but the 19 they missed constituted 19 empty possessions to go along with their 15 turnovers.

The fact that the Celtics took 17 more shots than the Bulls (87-70) doesn't mean diddly when the Bulls had a much more efficient FG percentage (53%-46%).  At least the Celtics of late haven't been mired in the thirties as far as FG percentage is concerned.

The Bulls also did a pretty good job of trapping and doubling Celtics players, especially Green and Bradley, who shot 9 for 29 between them.

One positive was that the Celts once again had six men in double figures.  However, so did the Bulls.

Give the Celtics credit for maintaining their energy level for pretty much the entire game.  Lack of poise and ball-handling miscues down the stretch once again proved to be their Waterloo.

Sam

Sam

Watching Noah pass out of the high post was beautiful to watch. More so if you are a Bulls fan, not so much for us C supporters. C's allowed him too much space to face up to the basket. Backdoor cuts plus some nice up tempo passes by him too. Looked like a PG out there too much of the time.

We played well offensively rebounded OK but just allowed Chicago too much space, and of course made an all star for an evening out of Augustine.

Tonight same team different city NO RONDO?

I'll be shocked if we can keep this within reason, but GB has done a pretty good job in these situations.

Oh well 11 games to go. Then to the lottery and the draft. And assorted other moves no doubt.

beat

Battle in a phone booth.  Neither team leading by more than 6.  Balanced scoring by the Celtics were overcome by a career-night by DJ Augustin.  This is where having players who are more than just "3-and-D"ers comes in handy.

They outshot us 53% to 46%, but we had 87fgas vs 70 for them.  If you're a team in the playoff hunt and every win means better playoff seeding and momentum heading into the playoffs, the W is the most important thing.  If you're a team trying to find its identity and is not making the playoffs then other things have importance, like playing a team with a winning record like they're equals and not superiors.

1.  DJ Augustin was throwing in more "Are you shitting me!?" shots last night against the C's than we've seen in a while.  DeRozan had a big night against us on Friday, but the degree of difficulty on some of Augustin's were off the charts.  Even Tommy was saying "Wow".  We only have one player on the roster who could have stayed in front of Augustin last night, and he never took off his warmups.  10-14 shooting, 10-10 from the line.  Nobody wanted him before but I think the only way you're going to get him away from Thibs is by prying him out of his cold, dead hands.  How do you overcome a player having a career night?  With difficulty, especially if you're not a particularly good team yourself.

2.  Kelly had a couple of bad turnovers at the end that cost us.  That they were unforced errors make them the type he could learn from and not do anymore.  For example, he got a great offensive rebound and was trying to pass it to Jeff Green at the 3pt line, but it was a weak pass and Butler swooped in and knocked it out off Green.  Ok, next time you put a little more mustard on the pass.  It's not like he froze and let himself be trapped and then threw it away.  That was just rookie-itis.  Still not a great game by Kelly, but I'm not stressed over those two.  This is the year for them.

3.  Noah is one of the best high post passing bigs I've seen in a while.  I mean, he got a rebound and came charging up full-court with it and hit Augustin, on the gallop, with a half-court bounce pass that came right up into the guard's hands.  That was true beauty.  It makes up for his butt-ugly shooting mechanics and hausfrau hairstyle.  Stevens said that, when Butler played Florida, he called timeouts when Noah started to get pumped up to cool him off because of the infectious effect he would have on his teammates.  Too bad him and Rondo hate each other and would rather eat each other than play with each other.  Noah would be clutched in Thib's other cold, dead hand anyway.

4.  Jeff Green and Avery Bradley together were 9-29.  Bradley was chasing everybody over picks all night.  NOT one of Avery's better nights, on either side of the ball.  Green came out hot, cooled off, and then reheated a bit.  I guess I'm ok with that, realistically speaking.  Sure, I'd like him to be like Swiss clockwork but that's asking a lot. Constant aggressiveness is just not his nature.

5.  I would have liked to have seen how Babb handled Butler and how Pressey handled Augustin.  Both those Bulls were too fast for who we had on them.

6.  There were times when 6'1" Rondo was guarding 6'9" Mike Dunleavy.  I don't have the game recorded, I can't replay it but I'd be interested to know what the other matchups were, that Stevens would feel that was the way to go.  To be honest, I'm still not seeing some of the method behind Brad Stevens' madness yet.  I know he's experimenting and trying to give the young'uns their chance but...

7.  Sully with 16 points and 10 rebounds in 27 minutes.  That's productive.  He had trouble defending against both Boozer and Gibson, but who doesn't?

8.  They were 25-31 from the line with Augustin and Noah combining for 17-20.  Beauty and the Beast.  Noah's a problem for most players because he can put the ball on the floor well.  NOBODY stayed in front of Augustin and he was getting fouled (and/or hitting) on every attempt.

9.  We took 29 3pt fgas last night.  29 out of 87, that's 33%.  If I get a chance I'm going to research what the league average is for 3pt fgas/game.  They had almost twice as many ftas than us (31 vs 16).  Think they got those calls because they bombed away from where the air was thin?  I don't.

A moral, albeit not real, victory.  We were there all game long against a pretty good team.  No slow start, no 3rd quarter collapse, no need for a big 4th quarter rally.  We just fought, hard and in a sustained way, but don't have the team (both roster and experience) to seal the deal.  I'd like to say we can prove it wasn't a fluke tonight in Chicago, but with Rondo out we'll be starting off with a disadvantage.

Let's see if Pressey can stay with Augustin tonight.


bob


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