Bulls open second half with 129-112 loss to league-best Celtics

The Bulls appeared stale after the All-Star break. Perhaps it was simply the fact that they were playing the NBA’s top team, the Celtics, in their first game back.

In any case, things got ugly at the United Centre on Thursday night.

Chants of “Let’s go, Celtics!” broke out at the end of the game as the Bulls lost 129–111,

despite the fact that they had led by three points at the half after outscoring the Celtics by 11 in the second quarter.

The Celtics (44-12) are among the clubs that plainly aspire to be championship contenders, according to Bulls coach Billy Donovan. “They increased their intensity to a new level in the third quarter when we were not scoring.”

The Bulls (26-30) shot just 14.3% in the first quarter and trailed by 16 points at the half.

However, in the second quarter, they made 5 of 7 three-point tries (71.4%).

Guard Coby White’s three-pointer with the shot clock running down gave them a 62-59 lead when they entered the locker room.

Donovan stated, “I think we did a really nice job executing [in the second].”

“The game slowed down because we could never get out in transition because of the way they score.”

Due to injuries, Donovan has placed a lot of pressure on his younger players while forwards Torrey Craig and Patrick Williams are out of the game.

The Bulls’ lineup in the second quarter was White, guard Ayo Dosunmu, forwards Dalen Terry and Julian Phillips and center Nikola Vucevic on the court, cutting the Celtics’ lead to two.

Dosunmu scored just two points in the second half to end with 14 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds after finishing the first half with 12 points, six assists, and five rebounds.

With 14 rebounds and 22 points, Vucevic led the Bulls.

White scored 20 points in total, and DeMar DeRozan, a forward, added 19.

Throughout the game, the Bulls made just 35.7% of their three-pointers while allowing the Celtics to make 48.9%.

The Bulls went without a basket for three minutes

The Bulls went without a basket for three minutes at the start of the third quarter and ended up shooting 9 out of 24 from the field and 28.6% from three-point range.

In contrast, the Celtics shot 63.2% from the field and went 7-for-11 from beyond the arc in the third.

Jayson Tatum of the Celtics was hitting centre Luke Kornet By the end of the quarter with an alley-oop in transition for an easy dunk.

The Celtics took a 13-point lead into the fourth quarter, and things got carried away from there.

According to Vucevic, “[Their shooting in the third quarter] was a big difference.” “Clearly, they nearly made as many threes as we did.”

In the fourth quarter, the Celtics shot six out of fourteen three-pointers, and Kornet was there to play cleanup when they missed.

Tatum had a difficult start but ended up with 25 points.

Derrick White concluded with a game-high 28 points, followed by Jaylen Brown’s 21.

Vucevic stated, “We’re not a great shooting team for threes like that in general.”

It’s challenging. Clearly, there is a significant difference. They made a few difficult ones.

With a three-point percentage of 36.1% this season, the Bulls are ranked 19th.

Boston is in sixth place with 38%.

The timetable doesn’t get any simpler. The Bulls will play the Pelicans on the road before hosting the Bucks and Cavaliers for three games back at home.

They then leave for a four-game journey that includes games against the Clippers, Kings, and Warriors.

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