No Kyrie, no problem
C’s ease by Bulls in a rout
CHICAGO — A mere 248 years to the day after the Boston Massacre, there was another event befitting that title last night.
But rather than British soldiers firing on colonists with muskets, it was the Celtics firing at will on the lottery-bound Chicago Bulls on the way to a season-high 37-point lead and a 105-89 victory that wasn’t nearly that close.
The Celts, who play down the street from the Old State House, scene of the original crime, had been beaten by 23 on their last visit to this Midwestern metropolis. They were without Kyrie Irving that night and minus him again last night (sore left knee). But Shane Larkin filled in more than ably with the first five, Jaylen Brown led with 21 points, Al Horford broke out of a recent funk and the defense smothered the shaky Chicagoans.
“We came with the right mindset,” said Brown, who hit 9-of-13 shots. “The last time we played them on this floor, they beat us by 20-plus points. We knew that coming in, so we wanted to get them back.”
The Celtics didn’t wait long to make their point(s).
After turning the ball over on their first possession, they scored on their next three ownerships to take a 7-0 lead. Chicago’s Bobby Portis then drove for a threepoint play and David Nwaba converted the rebound of his own miss to make it 7-5.
So ended the competitive portion of the Bulls’ evening.
The Celtics bid their hosts farewell by scoring the next 19 points, needing just 3:47 to do it. Brown had a trey, a dunk and a three-point play in the run, and Horford stole a Kris Dunn pass and roared in for a fast-break jam to cap the run and give the C’s a 26-5 lead less than eight minutes after the opening tip.
Brown went on to a 14-point frame, and the C’s shot 57.7 percent (4-for-6 on 3’s) to lead, 35-16, after one. The Bulls hit a woeful 31.6 percent in the first — and it would get worse for them.
Chicago shot just an even 25 percent in the next period (5-for-20) and posted just 13 points. The Celts fumbled their way through the frame with six turnovers and 20 points, but they still increased the lead to 55-29.
The latter number was a new defensive best for the C’s in the first half this season. The New York Knicks were held to 34 in an Oct. 24 win that ended 110-89.
Larkin hit two more 3-pointers, and the Celts went on a 17-3 run in the third quarter to make it 78-41 and put the game even further out of reach.
“We were ready to play,” coach Brad Stevens said. “I thought our defense was good in that first half, obviously. I thought we were really flying around, covering for one another, playing the right way. And then we were aggressive in taking the ball to the basket, and that opened up some 3’s.
“But Portis and (rookie Lauri) Markkanen have given people fits with their ability to shoot behind the line and play the 4-5, and so we tried our best to be proactive in taking that away, but that’s easier said than done.”
The Celts were clearly determined to rev the tempo and not allow the now 21-42 Bulls to get any ideas in their young heads.
“The last time we came here, they just had their way with us,” Horford said. “So we were aware of the kind of team they can be, and I feel like our guys were very locked in from the beginning.”
Stevens started Larkin in place of Irving so as not to disrupt the reserves’ recent flow. But Larkin seemed to give a boost to the first five with the way he pushed the ball. He wound up making all three of his shots, all 3’s, to finish with nine points. He added four rebounds, four assists and one late turnover.
“I felt good,” said Larkin, a DNP/coach’s decision Saturday in Houston. “Coach put me in position to be successful, we ran great plays and I just went out there and did what I’ve done all year, and it felt good. I haven’t played much with those guys this year, so I know we have a lot of talent out there, a lot of guys who can score the ball, so I was just trying to get in the lane and let those guys be effective. And then later on when they were keying in on those guys, I just took my opportunities.”