The Celtics hosted the Bulls tonight at the TD Garden and defeated them 115-101 despite an off-night for their star player, Jaylen Brown. In the first half alone, he took 14 shots and made only three of them, resulting in only seven first-half points.
Brown finished the game with 14 points, eight rebounds, and four assists while shooting 6-of-24 from the field (25.0%) and 1-of-6 from beyond the arc (16.7%).
Almost from the tip-off, the Celtics dominated, took an early lead, and continued to build on it consistently, resulting in a 21-point lead in the first half alone. The Celtics led 54-33 at halftime on the backs of a team effort.
It was two other role players who stepped up for the Celtics tonight: Payton Pritchard (21 points) and Anfernee Simons (27 points).
Pritchard started the second half hot and scored 11 of his 21 points in the third quarter (nine points within the first five minutes) while Brown continued having an off-night. The Celtics’ sixth man finished the game with six rebounds and five assists as well while shooting 8-of-17 from the field (47.1%).
Simons scored all 27 of his points in the second half. He also had three rebounds and three assists while shooting 9-16 from the field (56.3%).
The Bulls cut the 23-point initial deficit to 11 points (93-104) with a little over four minutes left in the game. But the Celtics fought back and held on to the lead down the stretch.
They struggled to generate offense tonight, even after the return of their star point guard, Coby White. Despite being a perennial starter, White came off the bench tonight as he was on a minutes restriction as a result of his injury management.
White missed the Bulls’ last three games due to a right calf tightness that he suffered against the Timberwolves last week. Five other players, including Zach Collins and Josh Giddey, were not available in this game due to injuries.
Nikola Vucevic, who has been a nightly double-double threat for the Bulls, also initially struggled to score tonight. He had only two points in the first half, including no shots attempted in the second quarter.
He found rhythm late in the second half during the Bulls’ late outburst to attempt a comeback down the stretch. The former All-Star finished the game with 15 points, 15 rebounds, and seven assists while shooting 6-14 from the floor (42.9%).
Matas Buzelis (26 points) and Ayo Dosunmu (15 points) had to step up for the Bulls tonight to provide some scoring threat, but even their efforts fell short down the stretch as the Celtics bulldozed their way to victory.
As a result, the Bulls have fallen to 17-19 after losing tonight and will face the Pistons on Wednesday (January 8). Meanwhile, the Celtics have improved to 23-12 in the East and will face the Nuggets on Wednesday as well.
These two teams will again face off twice after this: on Saturday, January 24, and on Wednesday, February 11. If the Bulls have their full strength back by that time, it will be interesting to see if they are able to get their revenge against the Celtics.
