Celtics get bundled by Chicago Bulls, fall 108-85

The Boston Celtics got steam-rolled by the Chicago Bulls, 108-85. The game began poorly, and just got worse as the minutes ticked by. In the end, it was a reverse-Gino for the squad, who lost by 23 points. 

The Cs were without some notable players, who were sorely missed tonight. Al Horford would eventually be cleared to play. 
The Celtics began the game with a semi-well-rounded first quarter, but only came out of it with a one point lead. Marcus Smart started off hot, hitting three of his first three three-point attempts (say that three times fast), but steadily slowed down after that. He'd get all of his first quarter points on those three baskets, and was one of seven Celtics' players to score in the quarter. Kyrie Irving's absence was obvious throughout the night, and he was missed right from the opening tip. 

The second quarter was atrocious. It was potentially the Cs' worst quarter of the season thus far. They were outscored by fifteen points, and only tallied thirteen points in the entire quarter. They shot poorly, went on a lengthy scoreless streak, and were no where to be seen on the defensive end.

Things just kept getting worse as the quarter went on. For some reason, Jaylen Brown took off his glasses in the second quarter, which may have helped, but clearly not enough. He finished the night with 13 points and 8 rebounds, and with vision or not, was able to hit this jumper.
At the end of the half, we saw Jayson Tatum's league leading three-point percentage take a hit, as he missed three straight with time ticking down.




On a positive note, we saw another Marcus Smart to Al Horford alley-oop. These two are as fundamentally sound as they get, and when on the same page, good things happen.

The third quarter came and went with the Celtics being outscored once again. They showed no life on either end of the floor, and got worked by Nikola Mirotic and Bobby Portis. Mirotic finshied with 24 points and eight rebounds on 9-of-14 shooting, and Portis recorded 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting.

At the end of the quarter, five Celtics had recorded double-digit points, but it wasn't enough. Tonight's game was a bit reminiscent of last season when Isaiah Thomas was on the squad, and he was the only one who could score. It was a gross game, plain and simple, and we haven't even cracked the fourth quarter yet.

The fourth quarter was the same old story. Celtics were outscored 30-22 in the quarter, and were beaten 80-56 in the game's final three quarters. Brad Stevens put out some G-Leaguers to finish the game, and that was all she wrote. Celtics lose by 23, their first blowout loss of the season.

There wasn't much to smile about in the fourth, but here's a nice play by Shane Larkin.

Some numbers to notice:

Al Horford:         15/4/5
Aron Baynes:      10 points on 4-of-5 shooting, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 4 turnovers.
Jayson Tatum:     4 points on 1-of-7 shooting, 10 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 steal
Marcus Smart:    13/2/4/4 turnovers.
Terry Rozier:       13/3/5
It was the second game of a back-to-back, so hopefully the team will come out swinging when they get some rest and face the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday. Regardless, it can't go much more poorly than tonight did.

The Patriots lost too. My second loss-blog in a week. Bah Humbug. 

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Photo: Getty Images
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