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A key moment
Monday night in Chicago was strange to say the least.
Not only were two members of the Boston Celtics ejected from the game during the dead ball scenario, but Boston also went from one version to the other after the first quarter.
The Celtics were dominant out of the gate. Absolutely dominant. They set the nets on fire with 39 points on 58.3 percent shooting. Boston led by as many as 19 points in the first frame and carried a 39-30 lead into the second quarter.
That lead disappeared in the following period, and quickly.
Chicago tied the game at 44-44 with 8:51 left and eventually pulled by as many as 16 in the period. The Bulls outscored Boston 35-15 during the quarter, all the while holding the C’s to just 24 percent shooting.
Once the Bulls got going, it was hard to shut down their offense. Conversely, when Boston’s offense went cold, it was impossible to warm it up.
Boston scored just 63 points over the final three quarters as the Bulls pulled away for a 120-102 victory.
A key player
Jayson Tatum led the Celtics in both scoring and rebounding again on Monday night. It just wasn’t enough to push his team into the winner’s circle.
Tatum finished with a team-leading 26 points. The team’s next scorer was Jaylen Brown with 21 points.
Tatum complemented the rest of his box with a team-best eight rebounds as well as five assists. His five helpers trailed only Marcus Smart’s team-high six.
Tatum did most of his work during the first quarter, when he poured in 15 points on 5-for-6 shooting from the field. It looked like he and his Celtics were going to get the win at that point, but Chicago weathered that early tide and came back to win.
Box Score Nuggets
- Boston shot an almost identical percentage from the field (37.4 percent) and from distance (37.5 percent).
- Jayson Tatum led the game with 26 points.
- Nikola Vucevic recorded a monstrous double-double with 18 points and a record 23 rebounds.
- Three Celtics (Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart and Noah Vonle) blocked two shots each.
- DeMar DeRozan led the Bulls with 25 points.
- Each team led by at least 19 points.
- The Celtics bounced back with a score of 60-44.
- Joe Mazzula and Grant Williams were ejected from the game.
- Chicago shot at a high level from all over the court, making 48.3 percent of its field goals, 47.6 percent of its three-pointers and 89.7 percent of its free throws.
- Goran Dragić and Markus Smart tied the game with high assists with six each.
Quotes of the Night
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