Final: Celtics 111, Bulls 82 -- Second quarter beatdown leads to easy win

After going through their toughest road trip of the season, the Celtics’ needed a bit of a pick-me-up and there was no better team than an undermanned 4-10 Bulls squad to help on that front. Jaylen Brown (18 points) led a balanced Celtics offense that featured six different players in double figures as the hosts led by as many as 33 points on their way to a 111-82 victory. Boston outscored Chicago 32-11 in the second quarter, which helped to quickly erase an early nine-point deficit and build a double-digit lead that they did not relinquish for the rest of the evening. Kyrie Irving had one of his best all-around games of the year (17 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists) while the Aron Baynes had 9 points and 11 rebounds off the bench.   

Second Quarter Notes

• Bulls' offense completely self-combusted in this frame with just 11 total points. Part of the credit for that goes to the C's defense and some of their rotation choices. Stevens leaned heavily on Aron Baynes and Semi Ojeleye and that helped produced plenty of stops against a lackluster Bulls defense.


• Just 2-of-9 shooting for LaVine early, the Bulls' leading scorer, as Jabari Parker is the only player having close to an above average night shooting.


• C's offense has been lackluster on the whole, but making enough 3s (7-of-17) to help push the lead up.


• Brad Stevens also went with longer stints for his guys in the second unit, balancing out minutes between Rozier and Smart, who played 13 and 12 respectively, including the end of the frame with Irving/Horford/Tatum.


• Hayward just one point in 14 minutes.

• Another lethargic start from the starting five put the C's into an early 13-4 hole in this one. Unforced turnovers (on bad passes) combined with a few midrange jumpers and blown defensive assignments led to an early 13-4 lead for Bulls


• Kyrie Irving and Jaylen Brown combined for 10 of Boston's first 12 points on to help close the gap with an 8-0 run.


• Irving taking it straight at second0year guard Ryan Arcidiaccono, posting nine first quarter points, a team-high four rebounds and a beautiful assist on a punch out to Jaylen Brown.


• Jayson Tatum with a fairly rough start, 1-of-6 from the field including a couple missed layups and turnovers around the rim. He loses the ball more than anyone else on the team when he goes up.


• Solid defense from Gordon Hayward but a quiet scoring night yet again early.


• C's bench unit moving the ball pretty well but turning down good shots opportunities and coming up with average ones instead (i.e. Rozier turning down 3 for Baynes 3)

• Marcus Morris will miss tonight's game due to illness.


• Robert Williams was assigned to the Maine Red Claws before the game. The Red Claws have back-to-back games in Maine over the next two nights, which should provide a good chance for some reps for the youngster.


• Brad Stevens seemed committed to sticking with the same starting five for now, despite their recent woes on the offensive end.


• Wednesday begins one of the busiest stretches of the season for the C's with eight games over the next 13 days, including three over the next four.