Everything you need to know about the Celtics’ beating the Bulls 133-77 in BSJ Quickie Form
Box Score
HEADLINES
Celtics destroy franchise records in dominant win: Al Horford (sore knee) and Aron Baynes (sprained ankle) weren’t in uniform but it didn’t matter on Saturday night as the Celtics led wire-to-wire and put together the biggest margin of victory in franchise history. Seven different players scored in double figures in the win, led by Jaylen Brown (23 points) as the C’s opened up a 17-point lead in the first six minutes of the game and never looked back. The 56-point margin also tied an NBA record for the biggest road victory in league history. The offense continues to thrive (115+ points for fifth straight game) but the defense was just as impressive in the Windy City as the Bulls mustered just 38 percent shooting from the field and 25 percent from downtown. It was the fifth straight win overall for the C’s, who have now won each of those games by an average of 28.6 points.
Daniel Theis takes advantage of an opportunity with a career night: Horford was a late scratch with a sore left knee, opening the door for the German center to make his first start of the season. He answered with the best all-around performance of his career in green, posting career-highs in minutes (32) points (22), assists (5) and blocks (4) while adding 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the year. His plus/minus of +50 was the fourth-highest recorded total in league history.
Guerschon Yabusele suffers ugly ankle sprain: The second-year big man got some extended run in the first half with Boston’s frontcourt depth depleted and put together one of the more encouraging stints of his Celtics career. The night ended on a sour note in the second half though when Yabusele landed on a teammate’s foot after going up for a loose ball, resulting in a sprained ankle. He had to be helped to the locker room by teammates and Brad Stevens said after the game that he’s expected to miss extended time.
TURNING POINT
Pretty much from when the opening tip was thrown up. The Celtics opened up this game with a 17-0 run in the first six minutes, causing new Bulls coach Jim Boylen to sub out his starting five a few minutes into the game. The hosts stopped the bleeding for a little bit in the first half but never cut the deficit below double digits as Boston broke things wide open in the second half on the way to the history-making win.
THREE UP
Terry Rozier:
The reserve guard had his best outing off the bench all year long, posting 15 points and eight assists to help sustain Boston’s hot start to the night by the starting five. The 24-year-old is now averaging 11.4 points per game with 43 percent shooting from downtown in his last five contests, enabling him to snap out of the slump that kept his minutes down for much of November.
Jaylen Brown:
He led all scorers with 23 points and knocked down all three of his 3-point attempts to break out of a 1-of-11 funk from downtown over his last five games. He’s now shooting 71 percent from the field in his past two games since moving into a bench role (15-of-21) and has played arguably his best two games of the season alongside his new supporting cast.
Jayson Tatum:
The 20-year-old had his best shooting night of the season, going 7-of-9 from the field while knocking down all four of his 3-point attempts in just 21 minutes of action. He’s now scored in double figures in 14 straight games overall and has shot over 50 percent from the field in nine of those contests.
ONE DOWN
Gordon Hayward’s shooting:
The former All-Star was a net positive on the night overall, but he struggled with his jump shot for most of the evening, scoring just six points on 2-of-9 shooting. He’s scored a combined 13 points in two games since his 30-point eruption against the Wolves last week, but remains very solid in other facets of the game, averaging 5.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game over that stretch.
TOP PLAY
TWO TAKES B-ROBB WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER
The Bulls are bad but that shouldn’t take away from this win:
The Bulls are one of the worst teams in the NBA but they also took down a red-hot Thunder team on Friday night at the United Center. They play hard but it didn’t matter on Saturday night. The Celtics played with incredible intensity on both ends of the floor, setting the tone from the first possession of the game with their defense. Offensively, they found great shots all night long with their ball movement and get their foot on the gas for essentially the full 48 minutes. It didn’t matter if the Bulls or Warriors were on the floor tonight: This game was going to be a blowout with the way the C’s were playing and the fact they could reach this level is more impressive given it came without an All-Star in Horford and a key rotation piece in Baynes.
It might be time to rest Al Horford for awhile:
Given how easy the schedule is right now and how much that knee has been nagging him over the past few weeks, there really isn’t a good reason to roll the 32-year-old back out there right now if he’s playing at far less than 100 percent. Assuming Baynes will be able to return to the lineup in the next week from a sprained ankle, the Celtics have the depth right now to keep this hot stretch going without a pivotal piece of their frontcourt. It’s time to make sure Horford is at his best for some critical head-to-head battles (Bucks, Sixers in back-to-back games in two weeks) so some additional planned rest may be the best play right now. It’s just not worth the risk given how important Horford’s value is to this team over the long haul.
