1. It was the best start you could ask for from the “Three Alphas”
All summer long, the question was whether or not the Chicago Bulls could make 3-point shots with their core based around Jimmy Butler, Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo as their three main options/ball-handlers.
So, of course … in typical National TV Bulls fashion, Rondo/Wade/Butler combined for nine makes from 3-point range on 14 attempts against the Celtics.
Nine. For. Fourteen.
Where in the world did that come from?
The biggest shot of the game was a triple from an Alpha, too.
Butler also hit a big triple before the first half horn sounded to give the Bulls a 57-49 halftime lead in a game that they only trailed for 11 seconds.
The Bulls needed every bit of the Rondo/Wade/Butler trio production. The bunch scored 50 of the Bulls’ 105 total points, grabbed 19 of the 55 total rebounds, and dished out 17 of the 25 total assists on Thursday night.
A little nugget: Wade/Butler had more offensive rebounds combined (5) than the Celtics did as a team (3).