CHICAGO — The Bulls entered Saturday night’s game against the Celtics at full strength and battling for position in next month’s play-in tournament. The Celtics entered the game missing three starters, playing their second road game in as many nights, with the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs all but locked up.
So it might have made sense that Chicago played with urgency, shooting 57.3 percent from the field and displaying the poise and precision a team will need to eventually stop this Celtics streak.
What made less sense was the fact that the Celtics once again found a way anyway, shrugging off valid reasons for a quiet night and pulling away for a 124-113 win, their ninth in a row.
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With one more win or Bucks loss, the Celtics (57-14) will clinch the No. 1 playoff spot. The Celtics have taken an unfathomably quick route to this point, but they have remained strong and steady because they do not really think about any of that.
Wins are quickly forgotten, losses rarely arrive, and each game becomes the new biggest game.
“We’re not looking ahead, and honestly we’re not looking behind us,” Al Horford said. “We’re trying to stay in the moment and make the most of it.”
Coach Joe Mazzulla continues to stress that winning will look different each night. He wants his team prepared to take different paths with different groups. Against the Bulls, the Celtics used their eighth starting lineup of this nine-game streak.
There was little choice in this game, with starters Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday out. Brown (ankle) and Porzingis (hamstring) received the night off to rest while Holiday continues to recover from a right shoulder sprain.
Those absences, combined with the fact that Jayson Tatum’s first field goal of the second half came with just over three minutes left in the fourth quarter, probably should have put the Celtics in a tough spot. But the backups have shown time and again that their ascensions are no fluke.
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So there was Sam Hauser draining 7 of 8 3-pointers and pouring in 23 points. There was Luke Kornet gobbling up 13 rebounds — five on the offensive end to spearhead a 23-3 edge in second-chance points. There was Horford, less than three months from his 38th birthday, seizing control in the third quarter en route to a 23-point night.
There were answers at every turn.
Tatum finished with 26 points and six assists, but even he would acknowledge this game was won elsewhere.
“We truly try to win every single day and I think it shows on the court,” Hauser said. “We’re just hungry for more.
“It’s not in our character to just mail it in for the regular season.”
Before the game, Mazzulla told his team he was thrilled about this challenge because the Bulls put pressure on opponents in unique ways. He viewed it as excellent playoff prep.
Chicago can go on explosive runs that are usually ignited by forced turnovers, and when the Celtics fell behind early by committing four of them, the message was sent.
“They test you on the margins,” Mazzulla said of the Bulls.
Once that issue was fixed the Celtics got back to being one of the most potent 3-point shooting teams the NBA has ever seen.
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With the score tied at 31 at the start of the second quarter, Hauser recaptured the form that put him on the brink of setting a single-game 3-point record before he was injured against the Wizards last Sunday. He was 3 for 3 from beyond the arc in the period and 4 for 5 in the half, with the Celtics taking a 66-60 lead to the break.
Horford carried the offense during the third quarter, helping Boston push back another stretch of hot shooting by Chicago.
He barreled down the lane for layups, aggressively sought his shot on post-ups, and poured in two 3-pointers. He had 12 points and 4 rebounds in the period, allowing the Celtics to offset a quiet quarter from Tatum, who was 0 for 4 from the field with a turnover following a 19-point first half.
“The guys did a good job finding me and putting me in certain positions,” Horford said. “I happened to be in the action and we were punishing the actions that were continuing to pop up.”
Tatum received his customary break to start the fourth, and his absence could have been more glaring on a night the Celtics were already missing three other starters.
Oshae Brissett started things off with a cutting dunk and added a 3-pointer, helping the Celtics extend their lead to 107-100 by the time Tatum returned at the 6:30 mark. Tatum then finished off the Bulls with 6 points and two assists, and the win streak rolled on.
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“You can’t take winning for granted,” Mazzulla said.
Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him @adamhimmelsbach.