The Celtics held to frustrating night against the Bulls last game, but they got their revenge successfully with Jayson Tatum posting a massive triple-double. The C’s defeated the Bulls 123-98 on Saturday at the United Center, rebounding from a loss to the same team two days ago. With the win, the Celtics are now 22-6 while the Bulls fell to 13-16.
The Celtics and Bulls were locked in a tight game for most of the first half with the C’s leading by seven at halftime. While the Bulls hung on, the Celtics built a 29-point lead in the second half with Tatum having a big say in his play. He had 18 points in the third quarter alone, hitting 4-of-5 3-pointers in the frame.
The Bulls were unable to string together a comeback attempt from there as the C’s held on for the win. The Celtics allowed just 44 points to the Bulls in the second half as the defense was on point. There was no controversy like in Thursday’s game, which was presented Boston received three technical fouls only in the fourth quarter.
Tatum finished with his third career triple-double, adding 43 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists. Jaylen Brown added 19 more points and eight assists for the C’s. Nikola Vucevic had 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulls, while Patrick Williams had 14 points, five rebounds and five assists.
The Celtics take on the Magic next Monday at 7pm in Orlando. Here are four takeaways from Boston’s win over Chicago:
Filling it out: Tatum was at his best during Saturday’s game, stuffing the scoreboard and putting together plenty of highlights. Tatum was the best player on the court en route to the triple-double with 43 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists. He also shot 16-for-24 from the field, including a 9-for-15 mark from 3-point land. Tatum almost did it all in the highlight reel, including hitting multiple amazing 3s.
Inner edge: While the Celtics have dominated the 3-point range all season, Saturday was a different story. The Celtics grabbed 10 offensive rebounds in the first half alone, finishing with 16 on the night. That led to a 25-12 advantage in second-chance points as the Bulls had 10 offensive boards. On the other hand, the C’s had a 60-38 advantage in points in the paint. Those 60 points in the paint were also a season high for Boston. That hasn’t been the case stylistically for the C’s all season, relying heavily on the 3, but it looked different on Saturday.
Rotation Check: The Celtics were again without Sam Hauser, who has back problems, so minutes were available for backups. C’s coach Joe Mazzulla elected to roll with an eight-man rotation with Al Horford, Luke Kornet and Payton Pritchard off the bench. Jaden Springer got some runs in Thursday’s loss in his first rotation minutes of the season. But Mazzulla opted to go with a big double lineup all night. That’s part of the Celtics’ strength in their roster: they can shape their looks because of their versatility and space. It was a tight rotation Saturday before Mazzulla unloaded his bench in the final minutes of the win.
Baseball Series: The NBA has introduced these mini-series between teams throughout the regular season where they play two games in a row. They will either feature both games at the same venue or, as for the C’s and Bulls, each had a home game. This has some benefits, including giving it a playoff-like feel in terms of being able to make adjustments from game to game. Also, it allows a team like the Celtics to bounce back after losing to the Bulls on their home court. This they did, beating their opponents in Chicago.
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