BSJ Game Report: Bulls 121, Celtics 99 - Another blown opportunity

Everything you need to know about the Boston Celtics 121-99 loss to the Chicago Bulls with BSJ insight and analysis.

Box Score

HEADLINES

Well, it happened again. I’m out of words at this point. The Celtics struggled all night and had a lot of defensive miscues and they struggled to make shots all night long. Now Boston is a game behind Miami and in the play-in tourney. They need to win both games against Miami Sunday and Tuesday.

This matchup is bad. To be fair, as Brad Stevens said after the game, “their size is an issue for us. Their size and length hurt us in our game at our place, and it really hurt us tonight. We had to overreact to some to that.” 

Some teams just have a matchup they can’t get past. Utah lost all three games against Minnesota this year. It’s not an excuse, it’s just a thing. 

TURNING POINT

With just under five minutes to play in a 10 point game, Marcus Smart turned the ball over and Chicago converted a Coby White 3-pointer (his seventh of the game), to push the lead to 13. It triggered a 12-2 run to push the lead back to 20. 

TOP PLAY

https://twitter.com/NBCSCeltics/status/1390820486947516418

TWO UP

KEMBA WALKER: Walker had 33 points and shot 6-13 from deep. This is the third game in four outings that Walker has scored 30 or more points. Yeah, the Celtics lost, but Walker is having an amazing stretch.

EVAN FOURNIER: He shot 7-11 and 3-4 from deep, scoring 17 points and being the only other Celtic to score in double figures. He’s shooting 63.4% in his last four games and hitting half his 3’s. All of this while still fighting through COVID symptoms. 

“It’s not great, but I’m really fighting through this,” he said. “Everything’s a challenge but I’m ready to take it on.”

FOUR DOWN

Jayson Tatum: He struggles once again against a team with length. One of the biggest improvements Tatum needs to make is finding a way to play through some of these big guys. Chicago is long and physical, and Tatum checked in with a 3-15 game (0-7 from 3). He scored 9 points in a game Boston really needed to win. You can drive a fleet of trucks through the gap between his best games and worst games. 

Tristan Thompson: He looked for his own offense too often and that messed with the flow of the offense. Any time he takes more than a dribble or two, he needs to give the ball up because things are not going to end well. 

Marcus Smart: It’s been a tough year for Smart with the injuries and changing role considering Walker’s varying availability, but the past few games have been especially tough. Smart was passing well early, but then he sort of faded into the background, which is very un-Smart-like. 

Jabari Parker: I should have waited to eat my crow on Parker. He’s exactly who we thought he was. The defensive lapses were often brutal. Offensively he had a couple of moments, but that’s it. He could have a stretch here or there where he looks good, but he is what he is at this point. 

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

I don’t even know what to say anymore. Analysis? There’s no figuring out this team. 

Sure, the matchup against Chicago is a tough one, but not “lose by 20 in a critical game” tough. Chicago was on a back-to-back, so the Celtics, even being short-handed, should have been able to at least keep it close. 

The most infuriating part of this Celtics season is that after each loss, the feeling is the same but the circumstances are somehow different. It used to be that Walker was iffy and they had no bench help to support Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Then it was Tatum and Brown who were having tough times. Then Tatum was great and the bench was coming back but then they were too hurt. 

It all boils down to this: The Celtics, if not completely whole, are a bad team. They have players who are good in certain roles, but the instant they try to step up and fill a bigger role, they’re not very good. When they’re whole, they can be amazing. 

No one is capable of doing any more than their assigned job. It’s a big rock balancing act this season. 

So if they have a full team when the playoffs start, then maybe there’s some noise that can be made. If they don’t, then it’s early vacations for everyone.