We love to talk about narratives in basketball. The narrative on the Bulls is that they can’t shoot. Sag off them and you’ll be rewarded with strings of misses and long rebounds that will guide you into transition baskets and, ultimately, pull-away wins.
Maybe in March that narrative will be proven true. Tonight, though, the Celtics weren’t rewarded with many Bulls misses… and even if they were it wouldn’t have mattered because Chicago would have probably just grabbed those misses and turned those into points instead. The Bulls out-shot and out-rebounded a Celtics team that, to its credit, never quit and had plenty of chances to win. But, in the end, they just couldn’t get the stops that mattered, falling to Chicago 105-99.
The Celtics got off to a slow start, falling behind 15-5 early before an angry Brad Stevens time out. The Celtics came out sluggish and settling for 1-and-done possessions while the Bulls attacked, got offensive rebounds, and drew fouls. The “can’t shoot” Bulls were perfect early from 3 with Jimmy Butler, Dwayne Wade, and Rajon Rondo all each hitting one. Rondo’s 3 pushed the lead to 25-10, but the Celtics woke up a little to cut it that down to 7 (on a pretty Jaylen Brown drive and finish). But the Bulls pushed it back to 10, taking a 30-20 lead into the second quarter. The Bulls out-rebounded Boston 16-8 in the quarter and shot 48% from the field. They had 9 assists on 11 makes.
The second quarter was mostly back-and-forth… the Bulls would push it to 13, the C’s would cut it to 7. Nikola Mirotic was particularly annoying, scoring 6 points and grabbing 3 rebounds in his first 3:25 of play. His first two baskets were twirling things of beauty, which had everyone in the building a bit surprised. The Celtics managed a 14-4 run to cut the lead to 3 with just under 5 minutes in the half. Then Dwyane Wade made ANOTHER 3 (his 3rd of the night, or about half what he made all of last season), Jae Crowder bowled Jimmy Butler over trying to bring the ball up, and both teams got into a little pushy-shovey thing… all of which sapped Boston’s momentum. They went from a couple of chances to tie the game to down 8 going into halftime. The “can’t shoot” Bulls were 7-13 from 3. Butler/Wade/Rondo were 7-8 at this point.
Tyler Zeller started in place of Amir Johnson in the 3rd. After some back-and-forth, Al Horford keyed a big Celtic run with a jumper, a beauty of a pass to Zeller for an and-1, and a drive for a bucket. A couple of Crowder layups (one after an un-called goaltend on Zeller) and an Isaiah Thomas runner later, and the Celtics were down 1 after a 14-3 run. The Celtics took their first lead with just under 5 minutes to go in the 3rd, but the Bulls responded with an 11-4 run to close out the quarter. Boston went into the 4th down 79-73. At this point, Chicago held a 16-3 “edge” in second-chance points.
That’s pretty much where it stayed for the first few minutes of the 4th quarter. But then Michael Carter-Williams, another guy who can’t shoot, hit a 3 and a floater to push the Bulls lead to 12 with 7:38 left. But… the Celtics had another run in them. Jaylen Brown hit a pull up to cut it to 10. Isaiah Thomas it a 3 and a layup to cut it to 5 with 4:32 left. An IT layup cut it to 3 a minute later. It went back-and-forth but the key sequence came at :43 when Jaylen Brown got caught trying to do too much and turned it over, which ultimately led to a Dwyane Wade 3 to seal the deal.
The Green
Abstractly, it’s nice to see the Celtics continue to fight in a game where they could have just packed it in. When MCW starts torching you mid-way through the 4th to push a lead to 12, it’s easy to say “well this ain’t happening”… especially in October.
Jae Crowder, despite making an overly aggressive mistake in the waning minutes (an over the back foul that gave the Bulls 2 points), continues on his path of “might be the Celtics most important player” status.
How about Avery Bradley having a quietly awesome night? 16 points on 6-12 fg, 6 reb, and 5 ast. He also had a great block (which you’ll see if you scroll down)
The Gross
The Celtics opened up each half kind of sloppy. I know it’s a road back-to-back but the seaon just started.
The “can’t shoot” brothers: Jimmy Butler, Dwyane Wade, Rajon Rondo, and Michael Carter-Williams combined to shoot 10-15 from 3. Wade was 4-6. He was 7-44 last SEASON.
That Jaylen Brown turnover at the end was horrible. Welcome to the league, rook. I honestly don’t give a shit in the long-term, but in the flow of the game, that was terrible and it’s a great teaching moment.
The Greenlights
Avery Bradley with the D
❌ AB with the block on Butler ❌ pic.twitter.com/ikCeR4SMeG
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) October 28, 2016
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Look at this ball movement
Watch this point guard-level pass from Boston’s new big man, Al Horford. pic.twitter.com/JchGtpxy01
— Marc D’Amico (@Marc_DAmico) October 28, 2016
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Horford to Zeller
Horford ➡️ Zeller 👍 pic.twitter.com/NmZFWGw5gc
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) October 28, 2016
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Look at this finish from Jaylen Brown
Oh my, Jaylen Brown pic.twitter.com/fKLt9nuD73
— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) October 28, 2016
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Amir Johnson with the awesome Larry Bird socks
Amir Johnson paying tribute to Larry Legend👌 pic.twitter.com/PjaeuO4aZc
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) October 28, 2016
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The Grid
- Second Chance Points: Celtics 5, Bulls 18
- Fastbreak Points: Celtics 10, Bulls 4
- Points in the Paint: Celtics 42, Bulls 38
- Rebounds: Bulls 55, Celtics 36
- Offensive rebounds: Bulls 18, Celtics 3
It’s important to remember that Marcus Smart probably makes a major difference in this game. Just the ability to defend Wade with Smart and still have Bradley on the floor would be huge.
Jaylen Brown on getting caught in the air during the 4Q: “I should have just shot the ball, but I was thinking it was a bad shot.”
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) October 28, 2016
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