C’S GET BACK ON TRACK WITH A RESOUNDING ROUT OF BULLS
Irving, Brown help slam brakes on recent ‘slump’
After two straight losses and some of their worst basketball of the season, Brad Stevens believed his Celtics were due for an upgrade.
And though a Bulls team that beat them by 23 on Dec. 11 in Chicago came back last night with a 58-point first half, the Celtics had 60. That, for Stevens, was good enough.
After the Celtics pulled away with an overpowering third quarter on the way to a 117-92 win over Chicago, the coach knew his instincts were right.
“I thought we played great in the first half and I thought they played great in the first half,” Stevens said. “We walked back in to the coaches’ meeting room at halftime and we were just kind of like, ‘That was high-level basketball both ways.’
“And that was the best we’ve played in a while, and we had to be that, just to be up (two) at halftime, and then we continued it at the start of the third quarter and played with a pretty good purpose,” said Stevens. “I thought obviously we looked fresher. We looked like we had our legs under us. We were excited to play coming off those two tough losses. And that’s a good basketball team. I mean, and they were really playing at a high level. You could see that in the first half.”
Everyone knows what happened the first time these Celtics lost two straight games. They didn’t lose for the next 16 games.
In an identical “slump” following losses to the Heat and the Knicks on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, the Celtics rediscovered their groove.
Kyrie Irving had 25 points with five 3-pointers and Jaylen Brown scored 20 points aided by four treys as the duo shot a combined 9-for-13 from downtown, and the Celtics coasted to a win at the Garden.
Seven players finished in double figures, including a surprising Daniel Theis with 10 points and 14 rebounds, as the Celtics shot 47.8 percent from the floor — a far healthier number than through their previous two games.
Brown, who missed the New York game due to Achilles soreness, bounced back remarkably fresh and added some punch to an offense that had become too dependent on Irving.
“Energy, I think just getting up into the ball, playing with assertiveness, playing with grit, like Brad talks about. Making guys uncomfortable,” said Brown. “I think in the first half, they were a little comfortable and Bobby Portis, (Nikola) Mirotic. Guys like Kris Dunn got comfortable and then, in the locker room, Brad came in at halftime and said, ‘Make these guys uncomfortable.’ We took that.
“It’s the best league in the world in terms of basketball, a lot of good players. When guys get into a rhythm, it’s hard to stop them sometimes,” he said. “From the jump, we got to be a team that takes guys’ rhythm, because any given night somebody can come out and drop 30. And there’s really nothing you can do about it.”
Marcus Smart, who had questioned his team’s effort after the Miami loss, saw that quality return against a playoff-bound opponent. Prior to its loss to Cleveland on Thursday, Chicago had won seven straight.
“We definitely thought about it,” Smart said of the Dec. 11 loss in Chicago. “As a competitor, you definitely think about those games. You know, we went into their house and they did what they were supposed to do. They took care of homecourt and they embarrassed us. So we’ve been on a tear where we’ve been slacking at our homecourt. And these fans have been sticking with us. So we knew we really had to bring it tonight.”
The Celtics put together a series of third-quarter bursts, including a 12-0 run early in the period, followed by 8-0 and 6-0 runs, for their 98-76 lead at the start of the fourth.
Two free throws by Theis put the Celtics at 100 points 50 seconds into the fourth quarter, and once Irving checked back into the game with his fifth trey for a 105-84 lead, the C’s were well on their way to some payback against Chicago.
“It’s a different game when you’re not taking the ball out of the net every single possession and teams are not getting a great rhythm,” said Irving. “Tonight, with that team in the other locker room playing as well as they’ve been playing, we understood that. Especially with, in the back of my mind, what happened in Chicago. For us, going into every single game, we want to have the same preparation. The same approach. It’s about going out there and sustaining it.”