2022 - 2023 POST GAME CHICAGO - AWAY

Celtics Wrap: Bulls Snap Boston’s Nine-Game Winning Streak
Boston dropped its first game in three weeks


NESN by Keagan Stiefel

The Boston Celtics’ nine-game winning streak was snapped with a loss to the Chicago Bulls, 121-107, at United Center on Monday night.

The Celtics dropped to 13-4 on the year, while the Bulls improved to 7-10.

ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
Is there something wonky about the lighting at United Center?

The Celtics suffered their second regulation loss of the season Monday night. It also happened to be their second regulation loss on the road in Chicago.

Other than just looking slow, and facing a desperate Bulls team, the biggest issue for the Celtics throughout the first three quarters was their reliance on the 3-point shot and overall bad shot selection coming back to bite them. Boston entered the night shooting 39.1% from beyond the arc, the second best mark in the NBA. They entered the fourth quarter shooting just 43% from the field.

Despite that, Boston made things interesting in the fourth quarter. A 20-plus point lead was cut to 10 with around four minutes to go in the game. From there, the Celtics regressed back to what they had done earlier and continued to turn the ball over and miss shots, with Al Horford’s 0-for-9 performance from three serving as the icing on the cake. They never got closer than coming within 10 points and lost for the first time in three weeks.

STARS OF THE GAME
— Demar DeRozan has been superb against the Celtics as a member of the Bulls. He had 28 points and was a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc. He also chipped in with eight rebounds and four assists.

— Nikola Vucevic can be penciled in for a double-double when he plays against Boston. The 32 year old had 12 points and 13 rebounds in Chicago’s win, finishing as a plus-20 and had six assists.

— Jayson Tatum, even when looking like he’s having an off night, always seems to find a way to fill up the box score. He finished with 28 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists in the loss. No other Celtic looked capable of running the offense down the stretch.

WAGER WATCH
DraftKings Sportsbook set the odds of Jayson Tatum opening up the scoring at +450 prior to the start of the game. His early 3-point shot cashed the bet for those believing in Boston’s All-NBA superstar, with a $100 bet paying out $550.

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UP NEXT
The Celtics return to TD Garden on Wednesday for an extended homestand, opening things up against the Dallas Mavericks. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.

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Well, clearly not the outcome I pushed all-in on and was expecting.  I find it really difficult to believe we've had two games close on the calendar where we can't throw the 3-ball in the the dang ocean.  I was expecting that to happen maybe every 20 games or so.  But 38% doesn't suck.  It's well above the Mendoza Line.  Kept trying to get over the 8-point deficit hump but 15 TO's won't win you many games.  It wasn't the number but the timing of those TO's was absolutely HORRENDOUS.  We got what we deserved.  Game ball to Brogden.  He's back.  That was a very quiet, very timely 23 points.  Perfect.  Just the way you want it to be.  No one suspects a thing.  What a huge pick up he was and is.  HUGE.  Glad he's back in the rotation.  33 for the bench.  Much better.  

No sense crying over spilt milk.  Literally bigger fish to fry come Wednesday.  Let's see if we can put that demon behind us.

db

Exactly as dbrown said, ice cold start. We actually took too many 3’s early, everytime we got a little close, bad turnovers or missed bunnies. Jaylen come on man, you shouldn’t be making these same dumb plays every game.

cowens/oldschool,

+1000 on your last sentence. I forgot to include that in my rant! Thanks for picking up the slack!

db

Live by the 3, die by the (missed) 3 and our missed 3s came early.  

50 of our 87 fgas were 3.  That just, well, you know...

15 turnovers, 9 belonged to the Js.  Jaylen was back to jumping before he knew where he was passing to and that made picking the pass off easy.  Our two point guards (i.e. the ones who should have the ball in their hands to run the offense), Smart and Brogdon, combined for 14 assists and 3 turnovers, vs 9 and 9 for the Js.  A little too much ego going on here, I think.  Our two stars think they have to be the ones to turn the ship around when it's taking on water.  That's fine and appropriate, they should be the shakers and makers, but they need to do it within the construct of Joe's offense and not try to shoulder it all on their shoulders alone.  

Al Horford.  0-9, 0-7 from 3, 5 rebounds in 35 minutes.  There, along with the J's turnovers and their 10 steals, are our loss.  Steals are, basically, live turnovers and the score was 10-3 in their favor.  That's 7 more live turnovers, 7 more times to catch us out of defensive position (because we had been on offense just the second before the steal) and run it down our throats.  22-17 fast break points in their favor.

Our 38% 3pt fg% was much worse than their 48% 3pt fg%, but we took a ton more.  Zach LaVine was 5-10 from 3.  

John Karalis @John_Karalis
yesterday
Tough night for Al Horford: The 9 field goal attempts are the most he's has taken in his career without making any. It’s just the fourth time in his career he’s ever gone without a made basket, and the second time in his career that he’s been held scoreless.

We are last in the NBA in forcing turnovers.  I don't understand why that is, we were the 2nd best last year and RWill isn't the difference in this.  I don't understand the difference in defensive intensity this year.  RWill missed a lot of games last year too, so did Smart, and our defense was still maniacal under Ime.

Joe probably should have played the bench more this game.  Kept our high-minute starters to 30, or less.  This game was out of hand early.

That ended our 9 game winning streak.  There isn't a team in the league that wouldn't have killed for a 9 game winning streak. We now have a 7 game home stand. That is a LOOOONG home stand. I just hope Joe doesn't let them become complacent.

Chicago is in 11th place, just 1 game out of the #10 "play-in" spot.  If we have the best record in the East, and Chicago snags that #10 spot and wins the play-in game, we'll meet them in the 1st round.  I'd rather not.  I may never say this again, but I'm glad Kyrie is back playing for the #10 Brooklyn Nets.  We need him to put some distance between the Nets and the Bulls, for our sake.

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401468405


Bob


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Bulls are a tough match up for us, they actually have 2 wings that can go off offensively on the J’s. DeRozen has so many midrange moves, there’s a reason he’s got 20,000 points. Levine played like a man possessed, he got stopped on his first dunk attempt, then went harder and harder and was fearless attacking and finishing with some highlight dunks. Good match up of 2 teams with arguably the best wings in the game.

Where we have the biggest problem with them is at the 5 in the paint, here’s where the Robert Williams MIA really hurts us. Vucevic kills us on the boards and Drummond had a ridiculous 12 rebounds in 13 minutes. Previously we made Vucevic look like Moses Malone, when he had 23 rebounds against us. Normally our pace and 3’s can overcome the dinosaur centers, but as Bob pointed out, this team seems to have our number as styles make fights.

They refuse to change their game plan in midstream. When those three's kept clanging off the rim it should have dawned on them that it was time to do something else. Drive more, mid range jumpers more, anything, and turn up the defense. This just was a game that yelled TRAP right from the start, no energy on the floor at all. Here's hoping they change their tune on Wednesday or Luca will eat them up glehandedly. They should remember what he has done in the last few games against them. Here's hoping sleeping in their own bed will turn things around. Even Brogden said they needed some changes

cowens/oldschool wrote:Bulls are a tough match up for us, they actually have 2 wings that can go off offensively on the J’s. DeRozen has so many midrange moves, there’s a reason he’s got 20,000 points. Levine played like a man possessed, he got stopped on his first dunk attempt, then went harder and harder and was fearless attacking and finishing with some highlight dunks. Good match up of 2 teams with arguably the best wings in the game.

Where we have the biggest problem with them is at the 5 in the paint, here’s where the Robert Williams MIA really hurts us. Vucevic kills us on the boards and Drummond had a ridiculous 12 rebounds in 13 minutes. Previously we made Vucevic look like Moses Malone, when he had 23 rebounds against us. Normally our pace and 3’s can overcome the dinosaur centers, but as Bob pointed out, this team seems to have our number as styles make fights.

This almost says it all about the Bulls game.

Add a lack of energy on defense by the Celtics, and you have the picture.

Play games, learn, move on. The 9-game winning streak was fun. Let's do it again.