After yet another frustrating loss at the hands of the Houston Rockets, the Celtics faced the Chicago Bulls desperately needing a victory. They were still without Sam Hauser and Al Horford which would not help their efforts, but it wouldn’t matter. Kristaps Porzingis has been exceptional over the past few weeks when others have not always been, but he took it to another level tonight. Porzingis was smoking hot from beyond the arc – making a career high eight three-pointers – and he carried the offense where others struggled. The Latvian’s double-double got Boston back to winning ways with a 122-100 win.
It was Porzingis who got the Celtics off to a red-hot start nailing his first two threes, resulting in a 10-0 run within the first two minutes. The Bulls did respond well to their early deficit and managed to get themselves back into the lead with a strong run of their own. Chicago was without Zach Lavine and had to look to other guys to take over the offensive load. Lonzo Ball scored nine of his teams first 11 points but then failed to score another point in the game. Ball has not been the same player since his major injury only averaging around 7 points per game since his return.
Boston has always been a fantastic first half team, a huge reason for that is Jaylen Brown’s ability to up the tempo of the Celtics offense in the early exchanges of the game. When Brown is allowed space to work in the midrange and to run in transition there are few players that are as exciting and enjoyable to watch. Last years finals MVP was rewarded for his efforts this season with his fourth all-star appearance on Thursday. The Celtics ran rampant scoring 41-points in the second period to open up a double-digit lead.
There was virtually no way back for the Bulls afterwards, Porzingis had a sensational game on both ends of the ball. In fact, his impact defensively may have been more important than his domination offensively. He picked up three steals and hauled in eleven rebounds, although the most impressive aspect of his performance was his rim protection. When Porzingis is disrupting other teams’ offense like he did in this one it completely changes the outlook of the Boston’s defence. Holding the Bulls to only 100 points in this game moved Boston into the top five for defensive rating, making them the only team in the association in with a top five defence and offense.
After their short home stand the Celtics will head to Louisiana to face the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night needing another win to hopefully spark a run before the all-star break.
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