Everything you need to know about the Celtics’ 105-89 win over the Bulls in quickie form.
Box score
HEADLINES
A dominant performance: The Celtics hadn’t really dominated a game wire-to-wire all year long, but they managed to do so against the tanking Bulls on Monday night. They jumped out to a 21-point lead in the first quarter and kept their foot on the gas for the first three periods, leading by as many as 37 points at one point. Jaylen Brown (game-high 21 points) led the charge for a balanced offense without Kyrie Irving (sore knee) but it was the defense that turned this game into a rout quickly as the Bulls scored just 29 points in the first half. The visitors led by double digits for the final 42 minutes of the game.
Aggressive youngsters set the tone: The Celtics have struggled to convert in the paint for much of the season but they succeeded in flipping the script on that front against an unmotivated Bulls squad. Brown, Jayson Tatum and Al Horford lived in the paint for their offense over the first three quarters as Boston outscored Chicago 42-16 in the interior thanks to an attacking mentality.
Shane Larkin fills in admirably:
The third-string point guard was a DNP-CD for the past couple games but got his chance to sign in place of Irving as Brad Stevens opted to keep his bench unit intact. The decision paid dividends as Larkin provided solid defense, terrific outside shooting (3-of-3 3pt) and a steady distributor with the starting five. With Larkin running the point, that starting group outscored the Bulls by 21 points in the 12 minutes they played together.
TURNING POINT
The Celtics essentially turned the game into 40 minutes of garbage time by cruising to a 19-0 run in the first eight minutes of the game. The outburst opened up a 26-5 lead for the visitors and the Bulls never got closer than 14 points for the remainder of the contest as the C’s suffocating defense never allowed them to get anything going until the fourth quarter.
TWO UP
Jaylen Brown:
The 21-year-old had a strength mismatch over the Bulls backcourt and he took advantage of it immediately and repeatedly on Monday night. Brown took nine of his 13 shots in the restricted area and made eight of them, just bullying his way to the rim for most of the night with strong drives through contact. He was 9-of-13 overall for a game-high 21 points but the power he played with set the tone for Boston without Kyrie Irving in the lineup.
Al Horford:
The veteran needed a nice bounce-back game after shooting a paltry 31 percent since the All-Star break and he did just that against a young Bulls frontcourt. It wasn’t flashy but it was efficient, as he scored 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting, with five of those makes coming inside the arc in just 22 minutes. One game after finish with a team-worst minus-22, he was a team-best plus-31 during the blowout win. Neither Bobby Portis nor Lauri Markkanen could get anything going in the first half either and Horford’s lockdown D deserves some credit for that.
ONE DOWN
Zach LaVine:
The athletic Bulls guard will be looking for a big contract in restricted free agency this summer but nights like this aren’t going to help. He missed 10 of his 11 shots from the field and contributed almost nothing across the box score (zero rebounds, one assist) in a lackluster 29 minutes.
TOP PLAY
TWO TAKES B-ROBB WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER
Give Kyrie Irving all the time off he needs to get healthy:
That may sound extreme but it should actually be a consideration for this team right now, even as they try to stay within striking distance for the No. 1 seed in the East. Irving needs to get healthy for the postseason and the Celtics have the depth, particularly in the backcourt, to steady the ship for a few games now that the team is out of their pre-All-Star break slump. The schedule gets tougher in the next week (Minnesota, Indiana, Washington) but those are still three winnable games with the cohesiveness this team is showing right now. Irving needs to be at his best for this team to go deep in the postseason anyway, so the priority has to be ensuring he can get there.
Jayson Tatum picked a good night to seek out more shots:
Maybe the rookie felt a need to with Irving out of the lineup but the 20-year-old fired up 12 shots in just 20 minutes on Monday night. The Bulls didn’t really have anyone to guard him and Tatum didn’t let him off the hook on that front as he stayed aggressive in isolation spots and shot 3s without hesitation. It was his highest shot volume since the All-Star break and he stayed efficient (5-of-12 from the field) despite the uptick. That kind of attack mentality is nice to call upon when it’s needed by the C’s.
