BSJ Game Report: Celtics 117, Bulls 94 - Another big blowout win as C's get to 50 wins

Everything you need to know about the Boston Celtics win over the Chicago Bulls, with BSJ insight and analysis.

IN A NUTSHELL

This followed a similar path to the win over the Washington Wizards. Boston came out strong and built a nice first quarter lead and then messed around a bit in the second quarter to play mostly even and give up 30-plus to their opponent. Then in the third quarter, Boston went on monster run to basically end the game.

After everything they’ve been through, the Celtics are now a 50-win team. 

HEADLINES

More great ball movement: Boston finished with 29 assists on 43 made baskets, which is really good but the ratio was even better earlier as the Celtics were building their lead. The ball movement was spectacular for the meat of this game, ripping through a Bulls defense that simply had no chance. 

I mean...

Jaylen Brown’s heater continues: His roll continues as the game’s high scorer and only player to cross the 20 point barrier tonight. But not only did he drop 25 points, he had 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals, 1 block, and only 1 turnover. 

Al Horford was awesome: He is mister do-it-all for Boston and it really makes you wonder how Philadelphia couldn't figure out how to make it work. I know not every situation is perfect, but Horford is still so versatile on both ends. The Sixers are the only team that's been unable to figure that out. 

Standings Watch: Boston moves into second all alone, two games behind first place Miami with two games to play. The math here is simple: beat Milwaukee and Boston grabs no worse than third because the best Milwaukee could do is tie and the Celtics would own the tiebreaker. 

TURNING POINT

The Celtics were already up 16 heading into the third quarter, but they outscored the Bulls 24-16, pushing the game to 20 points. There was no particular run that Boston went on. It was just a slow, steady, march that grew the lead up past 20. 

FIVE UP

Jaylen Brown: He’s doing this new thing recently where he sort of pulls a James Harden on the perimeter with the between the leg dribbles and then launches a step-back 3. So far, it’s been falling for him. It’s an interesting new wrinkle to his offense. 

Al Horford: A perfect 7-7 from the field, including 3 triples, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and a block. He just does a little of everything. 

Jayson Tatum: Sat the whole fourth quarter or else he might have gotten the 2 more assists he needed for a triple-double. He finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals and a block. Also, just 1 turnover. Even on a rough shooting night, he was huge. He’s consistently playing through defenders now instead of shying away from contact. He spent so much of the early part of the season gliding past the rim and trying to finish. Now he’s attacking head-on. 

Also, his willingness to draw multiple defenders and move the ball has gotten teammates wide-open looks, including one where the recipient was ultimately Jaylen Brown, maybe the hottest 3-point shooter in the league right now.

A full season of this and Tatum becomes a serious MVP candidate.

Daniel Theis: 15 points on 50% shooting, including a 3-pointer in front of the Bulls bench where Theis turned and pointed to his former teammates. Theis is doing well enough in the Robert Williams role that Boston doesn’t need to overreact with wild adjustments. We’re all looking forward to Rob’s return, but Theis is making it so we’re not desperate for Rob’s return. 

Derrick White: Nice game for him, shooting 50% and dishing 3 assists. The 1-4 from the free-throw line isn’t great, but it’s nothing to be really worried about.

ZERO DOWN

I can’t really look at any of these guys and say they were bad. Grant Williams didn’t put up numbers but did a nice job defensively. Marcus Smart only took 7 shots but had 6 assists and did some of his usual Smart stuff. Nice game from the squad all around.

TOP PLAYS

TWO TAKES KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- Rest Al Horford! 

Horford was asked about how he was feeling and he paused, bobbed his head as he pondered how he’d answer, and the best he could muster was “I’m doing OK. We’ll see how I feel tomorrow morning. But the biggest thing is making sure I’m feeling my best going into it. This season I’ve been able to stay healthy for most of the season and our medical staff has done a really great job with me and really kept me on the court.” 

Give this man the day off against Milwaukee. No fight for seeding is worth a diminished Al Horford in the playoffs. Give him the day off, let him get 20 minutes against the Memphis Grizzlies to stay sharp, and then give him a couple of days to relax and get some treatment before the playoffs begin. 

Horford is critically important to this team (which I’ll get into more separately), and protecting him should be the priority right now. 

“The biggest thing for us is we have to make sure we're kind of at our best as a team,” Horford said. “But also health-wise, physically. This past month, we've been playing some high-intensity basketball. really good teams. So we'll see what happens. But at the end of the day, we have to do what's best for our group. We have to make sure we're in the best position come playoff time."

One wrinkle here is the ascending Toronto Raptors. The Sixers are in Toronto for a game Thursday night and Matisse Thybulle is ineligible to play. The Sixers have seemed very willing to drop to the fourth seed and now they could face a scenario where they have to go into a series without their best individual defender and a guy who has been shooting the lights out this season for potentially three games. 

Boston, hopefully, will avoid that situation, but no one wants to really find out. The Celtics might be tempted to go for it tomorrow, grab the tiebreaker, and know they will finish no worse than third. 

This game proved that third really is the sweet spot in the first round. Boston might sweep a series with the Bulls considering how bad they look defensively. If they lose home court against the Bucks, they might be willing to take it as a trade-off for the extra rest. 

This is all headache-inducing stuff. The bottom line here is that Horford needs a break. It’s obvious that he needs one. I’d rather do the right thing and give him a break and hope the basketball gods smile on that decision. 

- 50 wins is a big deal 

50 is a magic number in the NBA. 50-win teams are good. There's no denying it. When we scroll back through Ime Udoka's coaching record 10 years from now, that big 50 in year one will shout out to us. 

The guys are going to downplay it because they're in the middle of something bigger. Udoka is going to downplay it because that's his personality. 

I am not going to downplay it. This is a big deal, especially for a first-year head coach ... AND ESPECIALLY for one who was 18-21 at one point. There were calls for his firing and other assorted vitriol. Udoka shut them all down. 

"When you take it in that context of how poorly we started or the games we gave away early, it means something," he said. "When I signed on here, it was pretty much a given we were going to win 50 games. That was the expectation. As far as that, not surprised but because of the way we started going on the run we had in the second half or so, it's a good thing to get back to where we expected to be." 

This is a man not afraid of expectations. This won't be his last 50-win season.