The Chicago Bulls started their brutal 10-game schedule on Monday night , and the immediate results were ... well ... brutal.
After a competitive first half of action, the Boston Celtics came out of the locker room ready to put the nail in the coffin. They dominated the Bulls 39-21 in the third quarter and cruised to a 134-99 victory.
While the Bulls are going to have to learn to live with losses like this in a rebuilding year, this one is certainly going to frustrate head coach Tiago Splitter. He has talked countless times about winning the possession battle, and the Bulls watched Boston finish +9 in field goal attempts and snag 19 offensive rebounds.
Don't worry, Bulls! You only have the reigning champs in two days!
All things considered, things could have started a lot worse for the Bulls at TD Garden.
To be sure, the Boston Celtics looked like the superior team for much of the night, but the Bulls seem to be recognizing one advantage they have with each game that goes by. Rarely will they face an opponent that has more energy and athleticism across the roster. That's just the benefit of being such a young team.
Boston didn't play a team with as much pep in their step over their first two games. Both the Pistons and Knicks do a lot of their damage in the halfcourt. The Celtics fall into that category, especially with Paul George and Mitch Robinson entering the mix this year. They actually came into the game dead last in PACE, whereas the Bulls have sat No. 1 through their first three games.
Chicago's ability to push the ball up the floor allowed them to string together a few nice runs that kept them in the game early. At one point in the first half, they went on an 8-0 run in just 42 seconds of action. This would eventually balloon into a 12-0 run that cut their double-digit deficit to 44-40.
The Bulls also deserve credit for their defensive energy. Caleb Wilson set the tone early with a pair of blocks, but this group continued to play with active hands that gave Washington some trouble. They had seven steals in the first half and forced Boston into 12 turnovers. This is another benefit of establishing the pace of play; the Celtics felt a little sped up, and it led to mistakes.
Did the Celtics still control the first half by shooting 51.0 percent from the field? You betcha, as Chicago's rim protection remains a major red flag. Boston had 21 shot attempts at the rim. The Bulls were at least able to hold them to just 12 makes in the restricted area, but the 28-16 advantage in points in the paint said it all. The Celtics would finish the night with 45 points in the paint compared to the Bulls' 30.
There is no question that this is the most aggressive and physical Chicago Bulls team we have seen in quite some time. To be sure, that has yet to show up on the defensive end, but we've certainly seen it in their willingness to drive into traffic.
Chicago feasted at the free throw line over their first few games. They came into the night averaging 35.7 per game, which sat No. 1 in the NBA. The Bulls would go on to beat the Celtics in this department this evening, but it still felt like they failed to really take advantage of the whistle.
Paul George had his fourth foul with 8:57 left to go in the third quarter. Jayson Tatum had his fourth foul with 7:15 left to go in the third quarter. The Bulls were in the bonus with essentially half the quarter left to go. Nevertheless, they ended up shooting fewer free throws than they did in the second frame.
This would have been a fantastic opportunity for a more mature team to take control of the game. The Bulls, however, just handed the Celtics the momentum. They turned the ball over nine times and allowed Boston to score 17 points off those mistakes. Peyton Pritchard also torched them with 19 points in the quarter on five made threes. Instead of running the Celtics off the three-point line, the Bulls watched them go 8-13 in the quarter.
Much like what we saw from the Wizards on Saturday, it was the kind of third-quarter collapse that there is no coming back from.
It was only two games ago that the Chicago Bulls picked up their first win of the year thanks to their depth. In Milwaukee, the Bulls' bench dropped 59 points, led by a 19-point effort from Leonard Miller.
Monday night saw a much different story. Tiago Splitter's second unit was ice cold for practically the entire night. Not a single player finished in double figures. Tre Jones at least did a decent job of attacking the paint, but the fact that he finished with ZERO assists says it all. This unit just couldn't find any sort of groove.
Meanwhile, the Boston bench looked like they were throwing tea into the harbor. They outscored the Bulls' bench - drumroll, please - 79-33. Peyton Pritchard obviously led the way with 28 points on 7-10 shooting from behind the arc. Sam Hauser also found a nice rhythm, draining three triples.
Things were ugly enough for the Bulls' standard bench mob that Splitter decided to search for answers elsewhere. He would go on to put all three two-way players into the game (Tobe Awaka, Jaylin Sellers, and Jordan Hawkins), as well as give rookie Dailyn Swain his NBA debut.
When things get that out of hand, you might as well develop!
Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on X and Facebook for the latest news
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nba/bulls/onsi as 3 Takeaways After Bulls Inexperience Shows in Rough Road Loss to Celtics .
