What the Celtics were missing against the Bulls, and how that was ultimately the difference in Boston’s loss

Semi Ojeleye

Chicago Bulls center Nikola Vucevic (9) blocks a shot by Boston Celtics forward Semi Ojeleye, left, during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Monday, April 19, 2021, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)AP

BOSTON — The Celtics looked like they were going to cruise to their next victory, dominating the Bulls early through the first quarter. Shots were going in, a healthy lead sprouted forward and despite missing key rotational pieces, the Celtics were winning.

That changed through the final three quarters. The offense slowed to a slog and the Celtics’ depth — or lack thereof — was exploited by a tough, physical Bulls defense. The end result was a 102-96 loss Monday at TD Garden, snapping a six-game winning streak as the Celtics couldn’t close the gap late.

The Celtics’ recent upturn was a product of a team that finally looked healthy with shreds of chemistry. That wasn’t the case Monday as Celtics coach Brad Stevens saw his roster whittled, down three starters and a key bench player.

The offensive miscues weren’t much of a surprise. With Kemba Walker and Marcus Smart, two crucial playmakers, out because of non-COVID illnesses, that severely hampered the Celtics. Boston was turnover-prone, and while Jayson Tatum notched his first career triple-double, it was part of a brutal shooting performance.

“It was difficult,” Stevens said. “Our guys fought; gave ourselves a chance. We got some good performances by guys that haven’t played a lot.”

Brown missed the Celtics’ last game also because of a non-COVID illness, but that didn’t slow him down in the first quarter as he poured in 13 points. But he only scored 10 points the rest of the game, seemingly slowed down by a shoulder injury.

That workload fell to Tatum’s lap. Without Walker and Smart, Tatum took on a bulk of the offensive pressure, which is why he finished with 10 assists that went along nicely with his 14 points and 13 rebounds. The raw stats look great, but the shooting was porous. Tatum was just 3-for-17 from the field as the Bulls disrupted him all night; he never looked comfortable and the shots just weren’t falling.

“I gotta give them credit,” Tatum said. “They did a great job tonight defending, showing help, just making it tough. Kept drawing a lot of attention. A couple of those shots I felt like I thought I could have made, but it was one of those tough shooting nights. But they made it tough.”

The lineups got a little wonky for Stevens the deeper the game went. Stevens usually staggers his rotation so one of Tatum or Brown is in alongside bench players, but he wasn’t able to do so easily Monday. The start of the second quarter saw an all-bench lineup of Grant Williams, Romeo Langford, Aaron Nesmith, Jabari Parker and Luke Kornet that saw some success.

The Celtics were searching hard for smooth point guard play, which is why Stevens turned to Tremont Waters at the beginning of the fourth. Stevens said they were a “little clunky” without a pure point guard, especially when Payton Pritchard was on the bench.

Waters, on a two-way contract, delivered to meet his coach’s expectations. It was just a few days ago where a disastrous end-of-game sequence against the Lakers forced the starters back into what was a blowout. Waters was a huge part of the Celtics’ struggles then.

Instead of being hung up on that poor performance, Waters went out and played one of the best games of his career. Waters finished with eight minutes played, scoring nine points without missing a shot. He was even active defensively, Stevens said, and could’ve had more than the two steals he finished with.

“Tremont has just got a knack,” Stevens said. “He did not play well in the Lakers game, so he was hungry to play well. I thought he really lifted us up.”

After the Celtics beat the Warriors last Saturday to extend their win streak, Stevens said all the success was simple: They were finally healthy. Now, Boston’s hoping to get back its best players, and they get a nice boost to do so with a rare two days off.

That means — even rarer — a practice. Stevens said it’s a “balance” because his players probably need the two straight days off at this point in the season. But he said it’ll be an efficient period where “it’ll be just to the point on what we need.”

That also means an opportunity for newcomers Jabari Parker and Evan Fournier to acclimate with their new teams. Parker played 16 minutes in his second game as a Celtic, but he’s still just days into his Boston tenure and learning the intricacies of the system.

Fournier is out of quarantine and Stevens said he’s in his final testing stages before he’s allowed to return. It’s still unclear if he’ll be able to practice Wednesday, but if he’s able to get some ramp-up with the team, that should help him smooth the transition back.

“Knock on wood, hopefully we have a few of these guys back,” Stevens said. “That’ll make practice better and hopefully we’ll be a little bit better.”

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