The Boston Celtics closed out the bracket play of the midseason tournament with a 124-97 victory over the Chicago Bulls. The Celtics were trying to reach the quarterfinals of the in-season tournament. NBA: Chicago Bulls at Boston Celtics David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports After last week’s disappointing loss to the Orlando Magic, the Boston Celtics’ chances in the NBA preseason tournament hinged on a win over the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday night in the final game of the tournament’s group stage. Paint? A win of at least 23 points would give them a chance to win their bracket – assuming the Brooklyn Nets get their win against the Toronto Raptors. The Celtics did just that, beating the Bulls by 27 points and putting their tournament fate in the hands of the Nets. Jaylen Brown led the game in scoring with 30 points on 12/23. For his part, Jayson Tatum added 21 points and the Celtics’ reserves — perhaps bolstered by the $500,000 tournament win — had 29 points. DeMar DeRozan and Coby White each scored 29 points for Chicago, but Zach LaVine finished with just two points on 1-of-9 shooting. Time favored the Celtics early, a lively, fast-paced affair that gave Boston plenty of opportunities to transition, move the basketball and create open threes. The early stalemate gave way to a seemingly effortless 17-3 Boston run, and the Celtics won on 8-16 shooting in the opening quarter. Led by Brown’s nine points, they beat the Bulls 31-20. A balanced offense helped the Celtics gain momentum early in the second quarter. They are enjoying a remarkably strong start to their possessions, with strong efforts from Al Horford, Payton Pritchard, Luke Kornet and Dalano Banton suggesting they will want to play in Las Vegas next week. Horford’s second 3-pointer of the afternoon pushed the lead over 20 points with just over three minutes left in the half as they closed on the all-important +23-point gap. They were well on their way to their second straight quarter of 30+ points, leading Chicago by 19 at halftime, 69-50. The Bulls had an injury scare early in the third quarter when DeRozan landed on Holiday’s leg while driving to the basket and appeared to sprain his ankle. DeRozan stayed in the game after the injury, but seemed to labor a bit on late possessions, limping a bit even when he fouled White and made the free throw. Even with DeRozan remaining in the game, Chicago didn’t seem like a team that was in the same area code as Boston tonight. The Celtics extended their lead, surpassing the magical 23-point mark and closing in on 30 as the quarter progressed. Brown led the way, shrugging off a less-than-inspiring recent performance to lead Boston’s offense on the night. He scored a seven-game-best 26 points through three quarters, and the Celtics went into the final quarter with a 29-point lead, 97-68. With the result of IST still in doubt, Joe Mazzulla decided to keep the newcomers in the game for the fourth quarter despite a significant lead.
The Celtics lost 100 points on Banton’s 3-pointer, but the drama pushed the lead to 25 with a pair of early Chicago buckets. It was a unique show for the November fall, It would only get weirder as the clock ticked. Leading by 29 with just under eight minutes remaining, Mazzulla intentionally chose to foul Bulls center Andre Drummond, posting a lifetime 48% free throw rate to improve his IST status. The gambit worked; Drummond shot 1-6 from the free throw line, and the Celtics pushed the lead back over the 30-point line as the game approached. But they couldn’t string together enough stops for much longer, leaving the final score The Celtics next host the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 3 of the two teams’ young NBA seasons this Friday at 7:30 PM EST on ESPN.
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