Chicago Bulls Upset Boston Celtics in 117-108 Win

The Chicago Bulls upset the Boston Celtics 117-108. Zach LaVine scored 36 points, and the Bulls outscored the Celtics 35-22 in the fourth quarter. Jayson Tatum scored 31 points, but Boston had their worst shooting night of the season. Still, they led most of the way until collapsing in the fourth quarter. The Bulls played without Josh Giddey, while the Celtics were without Sam Hauser. Boston fell to 21-6 with the loss and Chicago improved to 13-15. The Bulls won this game, but these teams will match up again in Chicago on Saturday.

A Close First Half

Coming off a few days’ rest, Boston was cold shooting the ball, so most of their buckets early came from attacking the basket. The Boston Celtics started the game 1-of-9 from three while Chicago was 3-of-5. It was a low-scoring first quarter and LaVine’s efforts gave the Bulls the lead, but the Celtics played good defense to offset their poor shooting. Porzingis and White had blocks, and the Celtics were contesting shots in the paint. A couple of baskets from Tatum and Pritchard on a 9-2 Boston run gave them the lead.

At the end of the first quarter, the Boston Celtics led 25-21. Tatum led the Celtics with 12 points while LaVine had 7 points for the Bulls. Patrick Williams was hot from beyond the arc, making 3 three-pointers in the first half.  The Bulls tied the game after a string of buckets from LaVine and Nikola Vucevic. Vucevic gave the Celtics problems in their last meeting and continued to do so in this game. Chicago took the lead on an 8-0 run. LaVine continued to score with efficient shooting, but the game stayed neck and neck.

Boston took the lead off a White three and Tatum free throws, but multiple Lavine three-pointers kept it close. At halftime, the Boston Celtics led 57-54. For the Chicago Bulls, the first half was the Lavine show. He had 20 points, shooting 7-of-11 and 4-of-6 from three. Williams had 9 points, shooting 3-of-7 from three. The Boston Celtics had three players in double digits. Tatum scored 17 points, while Porzingis had 12 points and Derrick White had 10. The Celtics three-point struggles prevented them from finding a rhythm on offense, shooting 6-of-24 in the first half. But they had the lead, for now.

The Boston Celtics Fall Apart

LaVine’s hot shooting carried over to the second half. Jaylen Brown, who had been quiet early on, finally began to score in the third quarter, while Coby White heated up for Chicago. The game went back and forth with no team building a significant advantage over the other. The Bulls took the lead after a cold shooting stretch from Boston, but the Celtics closed the quarter strong. Tatum drilled a three and got a dunk to put the Boston Celtics out front. At the end of the third quarter, they were up 86-82.

The Bulls wasted no time taking the lead back in the fourth quarter. They hit multiple three-pointers, taking advantage of lazy Boston defense and rebounding. Chicago went on a 12-0 run, quickly building a nine-point lead. The Celtics brought it back to a three-point game, but back-to-back technical fouls from Brown and Celtics Head Coach Joe Mazzulla, followed by another LaVine three gave the Bulls a cushion. Chicago led 104-98 with four minutes remaining. The string of technical fouls stopped any momentum the Celtics had, and the Bulls held on for the 117-108 win.

Final Thoughts

The Chicago Bulls upset win would not have happened without the monumental performance from LaVine. He scored 36 points, shooting 6-of-11 from three. Ayo Dosunmu scored 17 points and Nikola Vucevic had 16 points and 14 rebounds. The Bulls simply outworked the Celtics in this game, winning the rebounding battle and shooting better down the stretch. They improve to 13-15 with the win.

For the Boston Celtics, this is their worst loss of the season. They shot 39.2% from the field and 25% from three, their worst of the season. Jayson Tatum scored 31 points and Porzingis had 20, but it was not enough. The Celtics came out flat in the fourth quarter and let the game escape them. They drop to 21-6 with the loss and will face the Bulls again on Saturday.