Even though the final score doesn't show it, the Celtics played their most dominant game of the year on Monday night, outscoring the Bulls by 33 points over the first three quarters on their way to a 105-89 victory. Jaylen Brown (21 points) led a balanced Celtics scoring attack without Kyrie Irving (sore knee) as five players scored in double figures for the visitors. Denzel Valentine had a team-high 20 points for the hosts.
Boston's starting lineup was dominant in the first and third quarters (61 total points in limited minutes) but the entire team was locked in over the first three quarters, limiting the Bulls to just 53 points over that span.
Al Horford broke out of his slump (13 points on 6-of-8 FG), setting the tone from the opening tip by attacking the rim against a sluggish Bulls defense. Shane Larkin filled in admirably for Irving in the starting five (nine points on 3-of-3 FG). It was the regular season win in Chicago for the Celtics since 2015.
With the win, the Celtics improved to 5-1 since the All-Star break, with all five wins coming by nine or more points.
GAME: No. 65 of 82
WHO: Celtics (44-20) vs. Bulls (21-41)
WHEN: 8:00 EST
WHERE: United Center
RADIO: 98.5 the Sports Hub
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: David Nwaba
SF: Zach LaVine
PF: Lauri Markannen
C: Cristiano Felicio
First Half Notes
- Brad Stevens gave Shane Larkin the nod at starting point guard in order to keep the bench unit intact. Turns out, Larkin was the perfect guy to fill in with the starters.
- Boston opened the game with a 7-0 run and then reeled off a 21-0 run later in the frame the entire starting five stepped up with Kyrie Irving sidelined
- The key to the strong start was simply aggression. Jaylen Brown, Al Horford and Jayson Tatum were extremely aggressive attacking the rim in transition and the halfcourt, finding good position in the post and keeping defenders on their heels.
- Al Horford played with much more of a purpose in his post game as well. It wasn't pretty, but he got close to the basket as opposed to fading away on a lot of his attempts. 9 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, plus a steal and a block early.
- Brown led the Celtics in the first quarter with 14 points. Some nice movement for 3s on possessions the C's didn't get to the rim.
- Stevens went big with the bench unit in order to get some regular minutes for Daniel Theis and Greg Monroe. It didn't work great for the offensive flow, but the C's defense remained stellar. Bulls had everything contested and couldn't hit the offensive glass at all, thanks to the length of Theis and Monroe.
- Some spotty shooting by the second unit of Morris/Rozier. They settled for a little too much isolation ball early in the second quarter which stalled C's offense a bit.
- Tatum showed some nice aggression though by attacking bigger defenders in switches in the second quarter. A couple good finishes at the rim as well.
- Kyrie Irving will miss Monday's game with a sore left knee. The knee started bothering help during Saturday's loss against the Rockets. Look for Shane Larkin to get some bench minutes against a Bulls team that likes to play smallball with Marcus Smart moved to the starting five.
- The Bulls have elected to sit out Robin Lopez and Justin Holiday over the past couple weeks in favor of getting additional action for younger players with Chicago virtually eliminated from the playoff race.
- The Celtics have split the season series 1-1 with the Bulls. The last time the C's played in the United Center, they were blown out by 23 points on a night Irving rested a sore quad. Marcus Morris (knee) was also sidelined for that defeat.
- Daniel Theis (hamstring) is probable. He was available during Saturday's game but got a DNP-CD with Greg Monroe playing well.
- Tough decision to make for Brad Stevens from a matchup standpoint with the Bulls starting three guards. It will be tough for Jayson Tatum to match up with any of Nwaba/LaVine/Dunn defensively, but he should be able to use his size advantage offensively.