The Boston Celtics suffered the club’s first loss of the ’22-23 season Monday night, falling to the Bulls 120-102 in Chicago. The Celts coughed up an early 19-point lead and quickly lost their footing. The Bulls went on to win the second quarter 35-15 and never looked back.
Chicago was especially effective down low, and out-rebounded the Celtics 60-44. Paired with a poor shooting night and Boston’s fate was sealed.
Things weren’t all bad for the Celtics despite the bad juju. Jayson Tatum was really in his bag for Boston, but it wasn’t enough to secure a win. Here’s three quick thoughts on Monday’s Celtics-Bulls game:
Jayson Tatum continued to roll
Jayson Tatum looked like a stud yet again Monday night in Chicago. He turned in fifteen points, three rebounds, three assists in the first quarter alone, a frame Boston won 39-30. After earning Player of the Week honors just a few hours before tip-off, Tatum appeared locked and loaded. Even as things got away from the Celtics, the former Duke Blue Devil had it going on.
Tatum finished the game with 26 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. He’s been sensational to start the season, and was one of the lone bright spots for Boston.
Tatum became just the third Celtics player ever to scored 25 or more points in the opening four games of a season, joining Larry Bird and Paul Pierce. A fun silver lining despite the disappointing outcome.
The energy felt a little flat
Outside of Jayson Tatum, Boston’s offense lacked punch. Sure, a few guys had strong performances, like Jaylen Brown and his 21 points. But overall, things were choppy and a little incoherent.
In the first quarter the Celtics ripped open a 19-point lead. Tatum’s scheduled rest coincided with a cold shooting streak, and suddenly the Bulls took the reins. Boston’s astonishing offensive explosion to open the game faded, giving way to a clunky scoring effort.
The Celtics continued to pass the ball and push the pace against Chicago, and the shot selection was reasonably good. But it wasn’t great. Things felt forced, and the Celts missed that extra pass. Poor shooting didn’t help either — Boston shot just 37.4% from the field.
Once the wheels came off in the first Boston never got back into gear. Twin ejections from head coach Joe Mazzulla and later Grant Williams punctuated the frustrated energy coming from the Celtics side of the equation on Monday.
The defense is still a work in progress
The high octane offense is good fun, but it may be limiting Boston’s ability to consistently settle in on defense. Last year the Celtics steamrolled opponents behind stingy defensive efforts. So far in ’22-23 that same tenacity is a little lacking. Tonight, Chicago set the tone on defense.
Alex Caruso has zero chill. pic.twitter.com/g2hPl9koWG
— Steph Noh (@StephNoh) October 25, 2022
A 49-16 Chicago run to close the first half highlighted Boston’s meager defensive effort. As much as the offense was lacking, the Celtics really struggled to slow a feisty and athletic Bulls team.
Al Horford was tasked, in part, with picking up that slack. It just wasn’t enough. On the other side of the action, Chicago’s Nikola Vucevic grabbed 23 rebounds, including ten offensive boards, along with 18 points and five assists to boot.
The Celtics will need to decide if a more explosive offensive approach is worth sacrificing the club’s trademark defense. Boston can’t be expected to do everything, and being without big man Robert Williams is certainly a challenge. Monday night in Chicago it appeared the Celts were spending more energy on a failing offensive effort than on settling down on defense.
Boston will have to wait until Friday to get back into their winning ways. The Celtics host the dynamic Cleveland Cavaliers Friday night.
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