3. Dec. 14, 2001
On Dec. 14, 2001 the Bulls were attempting to rebuild their team in the post-Michael Jordan years. While Jordan was making his final stint as a player in the NBA with the Washington Wizards, the Bulls were left high and dry. The leading scorer for the Bulls in this game was actually the former first round pick Ron Mercer, with 23 points.
The Bulls did get every single one of the players in their starting five in double figures scoring on this night, including Marcus Fizer and Brad Miller. But this Bulls team was largely devoid of talent. This wasn’t really the start of those solid “baby Bulls” years that would see the team finally get back to the point of at least a playoff contender.
On this night, the Bulls came in with a record of 4-16. Meanwhile, the building Celtics carried a record of 12-7.
However, the Celtics did keep it close with the Bulls in this game. Pierce would play in a whopping 45 minutes (actually just over that mark). He registered a game high 38 points on 13-of-26 shooting from the field and 10-of-11 from the charity stripe. Pierce added 12 rebounds, five assists, four steals, and three turnovers to that mark.
Pierce was efficient with the ball in his hands. The usage rate of around 30 percent actually wasn’t all that high given his 26 field goal attempts and 38 points. He had a 133 offensive rating and 11.6 box plus/minus rating.