Third quarter
LaVine looked to get going early in the third quarter. In doing so, he was trying to maintain the rhythm he had found in the first half. When the Celtics fouled him, LaVine made them pay by completing 1-of-2 free-throws.
Still, the Celtics maintained the lead.
It didn’t help the way the Bulls failed to promote ball movement, as the team did in the first half. The Bulls were shooting 0-for-4 from field through the 8-minute mark. During this stretch, the Celtics dominated in the area of points in the paint.
Seemingly recognizing the Bulls’ growing reliance on jumpers, Markkanen took the ball into the paint and went on to score 2 points.
A short time later, LaVine brought the Bulls to within 4 points just north of the 7-minute mark.
It appeared the Bulls feasted at the free-throw line during game. They, as a team, completed 19-of-24 free-throws through the 3-minute mark. During this same stretch of time, the Celtics shot 8-for-10 from the free-throw line.
At the 2-minute mark, the Bulls remained down 78-71.
Kanter helped propel the Celtics at the time to the team’s biggest lead of 12 points. His ability to score in the paint met little resistance from the Bulls and their young big men.
The Celtics had a couple chances to stretch the team’s lead over the Bulls, but a basket in transition by Young helped stopped the Bulls from bleeding–at least through the third quarter.
The Celtics remained up 85-73 when the period came to a close.