BSJ Game Report: Bulls 121, Celtics 107 - Lax defense, early cold shooting doom C's in Chicago

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

IN A NUTSHELL

The Celtics came out freezing cold, once again stinking it up in Chicago. They shot 5-17 from deep in the first quarter, 3-9 in the second quarter. Meanwhile, their defense was too loose, allowing 63 first half points. Jaylen Brown tried to carry the Celtics with his shooting, but the turnovers from him and everyone else, and some bad defense, meant the Celtics winning streak would never hit double digits. 

Box Score

HEADLINES

Low energy: There was a lot of talk about this being a trap game, and man were those folks right. Boston came in riding high and the Bulls were in total disarray after losing four in a row, and the Celtics came out like they expected to cruise. The Bulls, however, played desperate, and they were able to take advantage of Boston’s soft defense. 

We’ve seen this before: This was one of those “last year’s team” kind of games. We saw this year’s team try to poke through from time to time, but they could never get all the way there. They settled too much early, they let the Bulls get too comfortable offensively, and then they turned the ball over at critical times to kill their own runs. 

Weird trend: Four losses have come to two teams, both in the Central Division. The Celtics have only lost two games in regulation and both came in the city of Chicago. Maybe midwest nightlife is really what’s undefeated?

TURNING POINT

The Celtics cut the lead to 8, 97-89, and it seemed like this was going to be another “figure it out” kind of win in the fourth quarter, but Billy Donovan reinserted Nikola Vucevic and DeMar DeRozan, and the lead immediately ballooned back to 15 after a 7-0 run. The Celtics made other runs, but this felt like the one where the Celtics were most poised to take the game. 

THREE UP

Malcolm Brogdon: He almost willed Boston back into the game himself. He went for 23 points on 8-13 shooting and 5-6 from 3. He also had a team-high 7 assists. 11 of his points and 3 of his assists came in the fourth quarter. 

Jaylen Brown: He was really good starting in the second quarter. Throw out the crappy first quarter and he had 24 points, 6 rebounds, and an assist on 60% shooting. He was the only Celtic other than Brogdon or Tatum to score in the fourth. Unfortunately, turnovers remain an issue. He had 5 on the night, most on the team. 

Jayson Tatum: He scored 12 points in the fourth on 5-8 shooting. He finished with 28 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists. He had 4 of Boston’s turnovers, though. 

TWO DOWN

Marcus Smart: He led the team with 8 assists, but he had a mostly rough night. You could see in the third quarter how his mentality shifted to “well, someone has to make shots” and he started firing. He was 1-5 in the second half with 2 turnovers and a team-worst -11. 

Al Horford: This was more than regression to the mean. Horford went 0-9 on the night, 0-7 from 3. The thing is, I was fine with just about all of his shots. They just never fell. The 9 field goal attempts are the most Horford has taken in his career without making any. It’s just the fourth time in his career he’s ever gone without a made basket, and the second time in his career that he’s been held scoreless.

TOP PLAYS

TAKES KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- THIS is a game where Robert Williams would really help

The Celtics gave up way too much at the rim. According to CleaningTheGlass.com, the Bulls got 37% of their shots at the rim, where they shot 72.4%. Having Robert Williams back there to wall off driving lanes is something the Celtics desperately need in these matchups. 

The Bulls also got 22% of their offense from the long mid-range shot, something the Celtics can probably take away more if they felt more comfortable with a rim protector behind them. 

On the other end, Boston got to the rim 33% of the time but only shot 55.6%. Adding a lob threat like Williams would go a long way toward turning that number around. 

Hey, there are some matchups that are just going to be tough without Williams there on the back line. This isn’t the biggest reason why they lost the game, but they also had a chance to win it late and some of the things they needed on the floor were Williams’ specialties. 

Williams is playing some 3-on-3 with coaches, so he’s inching towards a return. We could see him sooner rather than later, and when he comes back, he’ll help fix some of these issues. 

- Old habits die hard

Thanksgiving is this week, which means all of our clothes will mysteriously start shrinking on us. We’ll all go on our January diets and we’ll all do well, but when the will power gets low, the bad habits creep back in. 

The Celtics have changed their offensive diet significantly, but they will still let their guard down. Where we might crush four slices of pizza or a six-pack (or both -- don’t judge), the Celtics take 3-pointers when they're cold and turn the ball over trying to do too much. 

Afterwards, we have our moments of guilt and the Celtics will -- or should -- have theirs too in the film session. Good teams lose to bad teams all the time, so it’s not the end of the world. But as long as Boston comes back on Wednesday night and gets back to what’s been working, we can excuse the momentary relapse and move on. 

Next up: The Celtics return to Boston and start a six-game homestand against the Dallas Mavericks Wednesday night