Chicago Bulls vs. Boston Celtics: Instant Analysis, Highlights

The Chicago Bulls took down the red hot Boston Celtics 104-103 in a thrilling Thursday night matchup. This one got wild, so let’s go through it in detail.

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The #TNTBulls are back! Chicago welcomed the Celtics on Thursday night to try and keep them from winning their 17th straight home game on TNT. No seriously. The Bulls have won 16 TNT home games in a row.

And now it’s 17. After a legitimately crazy turn of events down the stretch (we’ll get to it), Chicago pulled out the win going into. All Star Weekend.

Dwyane Wade missed yet another game with a wrist injury that’s been plaguing him for several games now. Wade was the only inactive player on the roster, however, since Nikola Mirotic was back from the back spasms that had kept him out for two games.

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Let’s go through the game quarter by quarter and break down what happened.

First Quarter

The Celtics started off the game hot, going 10-for-13 from the field and 8-for-9 from 2-point range. Boston has been lighting up opposing defenses all season, so this shouldn’t come as a surprise. They have the 6th best offense in the NBA, and as of tonight’s game, they have more made 3-pointers than the Golden State Warriors.

Bobby Portis was first big off the bench, jumping in front of Niko in the rotation even though Mirotic was made available for the game. Portis took advantage of the opportunity and was letting  it fly with reckless abandon (so basically, regular Bobby Portis). He looked solid on offense though, including this pretty finish.

Plays like this helped Chicago finish the quarter down only three, 22-25. It also helped that Boston cooled off in a big way, finishing the quarter 1-for-8 from the field.

Second Quarter

If you were wondering if Rajon Rondo still only plays hard when the whole country is watching, wonder no more: he still does.

Rondo showcased a hustle on defense that we see very rarely these days, gunning for a steal that led to this fast break.

Rondo rolled his ankle towards the end of the quarter, but still returned in the third, much to the chagrin of Bulls fans everywhere. Michael Carter-Williams took his place and greatly struggled guarding Isaiah Thomas. Bobby Portis continued his solid play, scoring 13 points in 10 first-half minutes.

And Jimmy Butler’s scoring is slowly coming back into form after missing three games due to a heel contusion. He looked a bit more explosive driving to the rim and picking up fouls, which is maybe the most reliable form of offense for Chicago.

Third Quarter

After the break, the Celtics were incapable of opening up the lead against Chicago (because the Bulls were playing at home on TNT), but the Bulls weren’t exactly playing spectacularly either, despite a very entertaining Jerian Grant heat check. Grant is shooting 11-for-20 from 3-point range in February, in case you were curious.

The Bulls won the third quarter in the ugliest fashion possible: lots of offensive rebounds, cutbacks and free throws. Portis passed his season high for points in a game with a little over a minute left in the quarter, and he looked more confident than he has in a very long time.

At the risk of sounding cliche, the Bulls just outworked the Celtics. Through three quarters, the Bulls had 20 second-chance points. Boston had two.

Fourth Quarter

The Celtics continued their struggles shooting the ball, going just 1-for-8 from downtown as of a few minutes into the fourth quarter. To make things worse for Boston, Jimmy Butler is still really really good at basketball.

Butler guarded Mr. Fourth Quarter himself, Isaiah Thomas, down the stretch, and reminded all of us watching why he’s starting in the All Star game on Sunday, sinking back to back 3-point bombs. The Bulls had an offense-heavy lineup on the court for most of the quarter, but it showed on the other end, and Boston went on an 8-2 run to retake the lead with five minutes to go.

The last few minutes of the game felt competitive, a feeling that has been absent in Bulls games for about a week now. The lead waffled back and forth between the two teams, and you could hear the crowd get more and more engaged with each one of Butler’s drives to the hoop.

Despite all the fun, it looked as if the Bulls wouldn’t pull this one out. They had a chance to take the lead with a Jimmy Butler 3-pointer, but after he missed, yet another stupid timeout from Fred Hoiberg allowed Boston to sub out Isaiah Thomas for Marcus Smart, who then went on to make the steal that would seal the victory for the Celtics.

Or so we thought.

Butler tried to be the hero with a falling off-target fadeaway jumper, Marcus Smart maybe almost grazed his elbow with his fingers, and the refs called the foul, incensing everyone on the Celtics (for good reason). Butler sank two free throws, and with 0.9 seconds remaining, Al Horford couldn’t save the day for Boston.

Bulls win, 104-103.

Post-Game Thoughts

I’m hesitant to draw any meaningful conclusions from this game, seeing as Boston shot so poorly for most of the game, and neither team played particularly well until the fourth quarter. Having said that, this was a remarkably fun game to watch down the stretch, and if the Bulls do end up making the playoffs despite their best interests, I wouldn’t mind seeing Jimmy Butler match up against Isaiah Thomas a few more times.

You gotta feel bad for the Celtics, seeing as that last play really wasn’t a foul on Butler, but the most we can do now is hope that one win doesn’t cause any big meaningful difference for them when the postseason rolls around.

All in all, this was a great way to lead into All Star Weekend.