Final: Bulls 108, Celtics 85

GAME: No. 29 of 82
WHO: Celtics (23-5) vs. Bulls (5-20)
WHEN:  8:00 EST
WHERE:  United Center
RADIO: 100.7 WZLX
TV: NBC Sports Boston
BOX SCORE: NBA.COM

Starting Lineups:

Celtics
PG: Marcus Smart
SG: Jaylen Brown
SF: Jayson Tatum
PF: Al Horford
C: Aron Baynes

Bulls
PG: Kris Dunn
SG: Justin Holiday
SF: Denzel Valentine
PF: Nikola Mirotic
C: Robin Lopez

Third quarter notes

• The Celtics came out with more energy with the starting lineup, but they weren’t able to cut a 14-point halftime lead below double digits.


• Offensively, shots weren’t falling for anyone outside of Jaylen Brown. The Bulls did a nice job making life hard for Al Horford, only giving him open 3s that he was short on all night (potentially due to a sore knee).


• Tatum looked human shooting the 3-ball for the first time weeks 0-of-3 from deep.


• Bobby Portis continued to look like a man possessed, improving his hot night with more jumpers. He’s 8-of-11 from the field through three quarters.


• A few foolish mistakes on defensive in transition (leaving Bulls shooters open) helped ensure that no real dent was made into the deficit.


• The fact that Aron Baynes and Shane Larkin got a number of opportunities within the offense kind of showed you where the team was at from a scoring standpoint without Kyrie.

• After a Jaylen Brown 3-pointer to start off the quarter, the Bulls erupted for a 24-2 run to build a massive lead.


• The C’s went deeper into the bench with their shorthanded squad and it didn’t go well. The team was reliant on the 3-ball and none were going down 1-of-11 in the quarter.


• Aron Baynes got stuck in a matchup on Bobby Portis for a few minutes and Bobby Portis punished him from the perimeter, knocking down a trios of 3-point attempts. When Stevens pulled Baynes, Bulls started attacking offensive glass though with success. Makes it a tough call for him in the second half.  


• It was overall sloppy defense from the C’s overall, with miscommunication across the floor, sliding off shooters on the perimeter and just ugly play until the starters came in with four minutes remaining to ratchet up the pressure a bit.


• David Nwaba (reserve point guard) has been a problem off the bench as well, as he’s best besting Shane Larkin and getting into the paint with ease.


• More disappointing minutes for Abdel Nader. I’ll be surprised if he’s still on the team by the end of the season.


• C’s are going to need to keep moving the ball and finding Jayson Tatum more (just four attempts) if they want to pull off a 14-point comeback without Kyrie Irving.

• What a weird first quarter. Both teams came out extremely flat, missing the first six shots of the game on a variety of ugly jumpers.


• From there, both offenses got rolling rather quickly. Nikola Mirotic caught fire from the perimeter (13 points on 6-of-8 shooting) to lead a balanced Bulls attack.


• Meanwhile, Marcus Smart and Terry Rozier found some rhythm from beyond the arc, hitting 4-of-6 from 3-point range.


• Six first quarter rebounds for Jayson Tatum, but he’s still not getting very involved in the offense. Just two shots in first nine minutes.


• Horford is moving well despite playing with a knee contusion.


• Some ugly offense and defense early from Jaylen Brown, which earned him an early rest.


• C’s defense really is lackluster after giving up 28 first quarter points to the worst offensive team in the league.  

• Kyrie Irving (bruised quad) and Marcus Morris (sore knee) are out. Al Horford is a game-time decision with a knee contusion.


• The Bulls have won two straight games after dropping 20 of 23 to start the regular season. They are the worst offensive team in the league through the first 26 games of the year, but they've gotten a recent boost with the return of Nikola Mirotic to the lineup.


• The Celtics will have additional reinforcements in uniform on Monday night with two-way players KaDeem Allen and Jabari Bird in uniform. That will give the Celtics 13 active players with Morris and Irving sidelined.


• Boston is in the midst of their busiest schedule stretch of the season. From yesterday to Saturday, they will play five games in four different cities, including a pair of back-to-backs.