Rapid Recap is designed for the busiest of Celtics fans. Whether you canβt stay awake to read 10 paragraphs or your hangover is just too much, Rapid Recap tells the timeline of the game in only a minute or two.
While almost no one in the entirety of New England watched, the Boston Celticsβsans Kemba Walkerβfaced the Chicago Bulls. And it was a close one due to the Bulls’ defense and the relentlessness of Zach LaVine.
Fortunately, Jayson Tatum, Gordon Hayward and Jaylen Brown were up to the challenge. All of them had well-rounded games (28-7-2-2-2, 24-5-3-1 and 19-7-3, respectively), buttressed by an Enes Kanter double-double off the bench (17-12) and defensive wiliness from Marcus Smart, Daniel Theis and Grant Williams.
It started with Zach LaVine trying to win the game by himself and basically succeeding scoring 11 of the Bulls’ first 13 points before first the timeout:
Bulls not named Zach LaVine: 0 for 4.
Bulls named Zach LaVine: 4 for 4.— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) January 5, 2020
Boston’s offense was quagmired until Hayward, Brown and Tatum put some meaningful buckets on the board:
Gordon Hayward wide open for three
πππ₯ππ’ππ¬ πππ°π’π§π (π² @MetroByTMobile ) pic.twitter.com/fk6xU1s1A6— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) January 5, 2020
JB β‘οΈJT https://t.co/TPD0tszNSt
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) January 5, 2020
Although Scal complimented the Bulls defense on the NBCS broadcast, I didn’t think it would hold for long. I was right!
Celtics started slow then got hot. Finished the 1st quarter up 30-28 after being down by 12 early.
— Dart_Adams (@Dart_Adams) January 5, 2020
Second frame was kinda sloppy all around, for both teams: lotta misses at the rim, blown second-chance attempts, dropped coverages, reckless shooting, bricked free throws (fortunately those were LaVine’s)…you get it.
Right over the defense βοΈ
Vote for @jaytatum0: https://t.co/3Isigh7T39 pic.twitter.com/rO7aEl7r6c
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) January 5, 2020
The Jays brought some discipline back to the proceedings:
Impressive pass along the baseline by Jaylen got that play started that ended with a Theis layup.
— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) January 5, 2020
Jaylen and Jayson with back to back nice passes
— Jayson al Gaib (@Handsome_Jake_) January 5, 2020
If Jaylen's hitting off-the-dribble step-back 3s from the top of the key I'm really not sure what you do to stop him.
— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) January 5, 2020
As the Celtics retook a briefly lost lead, the young dudes got in on the fun:
https://twitter.com/maxacarlin/status/1213640145284599808?s=20
Also, Grant is an above-average shooter from three now!
Since his 0-for-25 start from 3, Grant Williams is now 7 for his last 18 (38.9%)
— John Karalis π¬π·πΊπ¦ (@John_Karalis) January 5, 2020
(Blah small sample blah size blah.)
11-2 Celtics run to take the lead in Chicago.
— Brian Robb (@BrianTRobb) January 5, 2020
To be filed under “Sure, why not?”
Jaylen Brown is a pure sex goblin
— Handsome B. Wonderful (@JamPackard) January 5, 2020
Brown/Hayward/Tatum vs. Bulls in first half: 32 points on 13/17 FG.
— Brian Robb (@BrianTRobb) January 5, 2020
LaVine and Lauri Markannen kept the Bulls very much in the game, however, and it was just a 55-52 Celtics lead at the half.
Hayward finds Theis under the rim for 2
πππ₯ππ’ππ¬ πππ°π’π§π (π² @MetroByTMobile) pic.twitter.com/uPSQMXOrnW— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) January 5, 2020
Good start to the second half. But more important was the adjustment of the Celtics’ overall energy:
Celtics flying around and getting a ton of deflections and blocks. Much better energy to start the 2nd half than the 1st
— John Karalis π¬π·πΊπ¦ (@John_Karalis) January 5, 2020
+3οΈβ£ more for @FCHWPO
β https://t.co/lwoZWBObVS β https://t.co/UxgzX2Ssmk
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) January 5, 2020
What Boston couldn’t do, however, is establish a truly safe leadβChicago was always just a handful of points behind. Which is attributable in no small part to the absence of Kemba, even with Jaylen, Gordo and Jayson all well into double figures by the third quarter’s halfway point. LaVine was cooking, as expected, but Wendell Carter may have had even greater impact, limiting the offensive impact of Boston’s bigs.
too big
too fast
too stronghttps://t.co/3Isigh7T39 pic.twitter.com/yfsWcmh8Ur— Boston Celtics (@celtics) January 5, 2020
But, ultimately, the Bulls had no one really equipped to handle the Celtics’ specific wing attack. And Kanter started getting in on the fun once he realized Carter and Chicago’s other bigs wouldn’t change their defensive approaches. He adjusted slightly, and BOOM:
8 points in 53 seconds, too. https://t.co/L5Za7wvHcw
— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) January 5, 2020
Grant Williams doing work https://t.co/qtCqUSv91f
— John Karalis π¬π·πΊπ¦ (@John_Karalis) January 5, 2020
.@EnesKanter AGAIN pic.twitter.com/FAdOroaicm
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) January 5, 2020
85-73Β with three quarters in the books, after an electrifying Tatum drive to the basket:
And as the clock expires β pic.twitter.com/rcEQ4BTsyL
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) January 5, 2020
So after this I thought the game was basically a wrap:
Javonte Green gets the steal & Tatum runs off to get two
πππ₯ππ’ππ¬ πππ°π’π§π (π² @MetroByTMobile ) pic.twitter.com/V0QeCujg2P— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) January 5, 2020
But nothing is ever that easy, and Kanter, so strong at the end of the third, quickly regressed into bad habits:
https://twitter.com/maxacarlin/status/1213657337866702848?s=20
Bulls needed just 1:30 to slice the 16-point deficit to 8. Still 8:16 left.
— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) January 5, 2020
Gotta give them credit, when theyβre engaged the Bulls are solid on D
— Adam Taylor (@AdamTaylorNBA) January 5, 2020
Worth noting the Jays were by no means immune to mistakes:
Jaylen throws away the outlet pass and Brad literally puts his head in his hands.
— Mike Dynon βοΈπ (@MikeDynon) January 5, 2020
It took a strong defensive effort spearheaded by Smart and Daniel Theis to stop the bleeding:
Bulls went on a 13-0 run but have been scoreless for more than 3 minutes now.
— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) January 5, 2020
LaVine broke that (big surprise), as the Celtics seemed troubled by the notion of any offense away from the charity stripe for a looooooong stretch.
They are mostly fouls but the Celtics getting bailed out a bit lmao.
— Jayson al Gaib (@Handsome_Jake_) January 5, 2020
Though there was some back-and-forth with fouling because the final score was close, this Tatum dagger basically did it:
Tatum saves a poor possession with the CLUTCH three-point bomb pic.twitter.com/tAWTu6Z9Nh
— Adam Taylor (@AdamTaylorNBA) January 5, 2020
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