Fourth quarter surge pushes Bulls past Celtics |
BOSTON—It's hard to believe that the Chicago Bulls (13-15) are nearly .500 after all the things they have gone through in recent seasons. Maybe this team isn't as bad as everyone thought it would be, but that doesn't bode well when trying to hang on to their first-round pick next season.
Along with a deeper roster that continues to get better as the season goes on, the Bulls also have one of the better road records in the NBA, which was on display Thursday against the Boston Celtics (21-6). After letting their first meeting between the two getaway, the Bulls found themselves locked in another tight game with the Celtics, which was going to come down to the fourth quarter. That is when the Bulls played arguably one of their best quarters of the season as Chicago outscored the Celtics 35-22 over the final 12 minutes to secure the 117-108 victory. It was a victory no one expected, especially with Josh Giddey out of the lineup, but a balanced scoring attack led by Zach Lavine was a problem for the Celtics all night. Lavine has been much quieter this season than in the past, but he has still had one of his better overall seasons to start the year. That continued with his massive 36-point performance as he led all scorers. Lavine connected on six of his 11 triples as the Bulls knocked down 19-52 three-point tries. With Giddey out of the lineup, it created an opportunity for Patrick Williams to return to the starting lineup, and with 14 points, he had by far his best outing since returning from a foot injury. Those two combined for 50 points in the game, but the Bulls had a balanced attack that saw all five of their starters land in double figures, as Ayo Dosunmu (17 points), Nikola Vucevic (16 points) and Coby White (12 points) all had their moments in this one. Vucevic especially came up huge as the Bulls are happy to have him back in the lineup as he added 14 rebounds to his 16 points for another massive double-double. Not only did the starting lineup have success, but at times, the bench showed signs of life, with Julian Phillips leading the Bulls' second unit with 10 points. Phillips scored nearly half of what the Bulls bench put up, as Lonzo Ball added three points and Talen Horton-Tucker picked up nine to round out the scoring. As is the course with every game with the Celtics, they will go as Jayson Tatum and Jalen Brown go, and for the most part, Tatum did what Tatum does. After getting off to a hot start to score 17 first-half points, the Bulls did a much better job defending him in the second, but he still managed to finish with 31 points and pulled down 10 rebounds. They needed every bit of his game to remain in the lead most of the night as Jrue Holiday had his worst overall game of the season to finish with six points. That alone was a massive reason the Celtics lost this game, as Brown and the rest of the Celtics starting lineup put up double figures and did their part on the court. Brown didn't have his best game, struggling to shoot the ball from distance (1-8), but with 19 points, he still did all the Celtics asked him to do. You also had Kristaps Porzingis deliver a 20-point, eight-rebound outing, as those three were the Celtics' big three in the game. With Holiday having his struggles, guys like Derrick White and Payton Pritchard had to step up their efforts, and both of them did. White had a very good game in the starting lineup, chipping in with 16 points while adding eight rebounds. Pritchard single-handedly led the Celtics to a victory the last time these teams played, but with just 14 points off the bench, Chicago did a much better job defending him in the win. These same teams will meet again on Saturday for the second half of their home and home.
DUARTE PUSHES THE BULLS PAST THE HUSTLE
Lost in the bustle of the NBA season, the Bulls G-League team returned to action on Thursday as they took place in the Winter Showcase. Despite not qualifying for the Championship portion of the Showcase, the Bulls still earned two games in Orlando before the rest of their season kicks off.
After trailing the Hustle by four after the first quarter, Chris Duarte took over in the second as he put on a show to remember. The former first-round pick was part of the Demar DeRozan sign and trade this offseason and received little to no action with the Bulls this season. Because of that, they sent him to the G-League, where he went off for a game-high 36 points. Sixteen of those came in the second quarter to put the Bulls in front before they would deliver the 109-104 win.
Duarte played a crucial role in the Bulls win, as did DJ Steward and his 21 points as those two were the leaders of the Bulls offense. With Adama Sanogo struggling to get the job done and finishing with 12 points and 11 boards, Windy City needed every bit of the production for those two. Ben Coupet Jr and EJ Liddell also added 12 points for the Bulls.
When it came to the Hustle, they got off to a great start to open the game and finished the game with a flurry to make things interesting late. Yuki Kawamura was a massive reason for that, as he led the Hustle with 27 points. He was one of seven double-digit scorers for the Hustle, including all five starters, as balanced scoring played a role for both teams.
Lucas Williamson and Malachi Smtih delivered 13 points, with Miles Norris and Colin Castleton adding 12. Armando Bacot also had a strong showing as he continued to show his value on both sides of the ball. Bacot added 10 points on the offensive end and pulled down 10 boards as his strong rookie season continued. Windy City will close out their time at the Winter Showcase on Saturday when they take on the Santa Cruz Warriors.
