The uncomfortableness of Tuesday night’s Celtics vs. Bulls game, specifically the fourth quarter, wasn’t lost on Boston coach Joe Mazzulla. With Boston up 111–79 and just over seven minutes remaining in the game, Mazzulla and the Celtics began intentionally fouling Chicago center Andre Drummond to send him to the free-throw line.
This decision to take this approach stemmed from the point differential the Celtics were attempting to navigate in the NBA’s new in-season tournament. Boston needed a big win over the Bulls, as Jake Fisher of Yahoo Sports! reported their pre-game “magic number” was 23 points (one better than the Magic’s 22-point differential). The team was also tracking the Nets’ game against the Raptors for tiebreaker purposes, as Brooklyn also had a chance to advance with a big win.
Bulls coach Billy Donovan was bound to feel a bit strange about the bizarre situation, in which the Celtics were attempting to be proactive for the sake of their spot in the NBA in-season tournament.
