3 best games Paul Pierce ever played against the Chicago Bulls

2. Dec. 16, 2002

During the 2002-03 season, the Bulls were starting to improve and moved into that role as a spoiler in the East and Central Division. The Bulls did get off to a slow start in this 2002-03 campaign, but steadily started to mesh better together down the stretch. And they gave a true playoff contender in Pierce and the Celtics some serious trouble along the way.

The Celtics came to town at the United Center in Chicago roughly one year after the last performance from Pierce against the Bulls on this list in 2002-03. Pierce had an even more impressive and well-rounded game in this go-around against the Bulls. But the team around him didn’t help out near as much.

The Bulls carried a record of 7-16 into this showdown against the Celtics. Meanwhile, Boston carried a record of 16-7, as one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference standings at this point of the regular season.

There were only two Celtics players that managed more than 10 points in this eventual 11-point loss. Big man Antoine Walker managed 16 points, nine rebounds, five assists, five steals, and one block. Meanwhile, Pierce registered a game-high 37 points, 15 rebounds, five steals, two steals, and one block. The shooting performance on this night wasn’t too great for Pierce, though, going 10-of-28 from the field.

The Bulls effort toward this win was powered by 24 points from Jalen Rose, and 20 from Donyell Marshall and Fizer off the bench. Tyson Chandler also added a double-double for the Bulls win over the Celtics in December 2002.