The Celtics’ 117-108 loss to the Bulls can be summed up by one telling stat: Boston had as many technical fouls as made threes in the fourth quarter.
In a game defined by a franchise-record 42 missed threes, season-low 39.2% shooting from the field, and three technical fouls down the stretch, the Celtics suffered their worst loss of the season in surprisingly sloppy fashion.
The Bulls beat the Celtics at their own game, out-shooting them from the perimeter—something that had only happened twice this season. Boston shot 14-of-56 (25.0%), while Chicago hit 19-of-52 (36.5%), gaining a 15-point edge beyond the arc.
“I think it’s just one of those nights,” head coach Joe Mazzulla said after the game. “I think when you shoot 25 percent but you’re fighting for great looks, and you have a team that shoots 37 percent, it’s just kind of wearing a little bit. I thought our attention to detail was good in the first half. I thought the second half, it waned a little bit.”
Boston’s defense kept the game close, masking their horrendous shooting for a while, but it was only a matter of time before it caught up to them. Mazzulla often stresses the connection between offense and defense, and that disconnect hurt the Celtics as the game wore on.
A 17-4 Bulls run to start the fourth quarter, fueled by both Boston’s poor shooting and defensive lapses, proved to be the turning point. Despite going 2-of-11 (18.1%) from the field and 1-of-9 (11%) from deep in the first 6:45 of the fourth, the Celtics managed to string together six straight points, cutting a nine-point deficit to six.
However, back-to-back technical fouls—one on Mazzulla, one on Jaylen Brown—combined with a Zach LaVine three-pointer stretched the lead back to eight before Boston even touched the ball again. From there, it became clear the Celtics wouldn’t erase that deficit, as any momentum had disappeared.
Mazzulla earned his technical after Brown and Payton Pritchard got tied up with Chicago’s Ayo Dosunmu trying to get an offensive rebound off a Jayson Tatum missed three. Although Brown was first in to tie the ball up, the officials stated that Pritchard would jump.
Mazzulla explained postgame that his technical came not from any magic words but rather from stepping onto the court after the jump-ball call to plead his case. Crew chief Tony Brothers confirmed this in a pool report, who said Mazzulla was assessed the technical for leaving the coach’s box and stepping onto the floor.
“I just can’t be on the court,” Mazzulla said. “The ref had to do his job, and I was on the court. That’s it.”
After Justin Van Duyne called the technical, Mazzulla sought further clarification and had to be restrained by assistant coaches Sam Cassell and Tony Dobbins.
Moments later, after LaVine made the technical free throw, Brown received his technical for what Brothers described in the pool report as “questioning our integrity multiple times during that same sequence.” Van Duyne also called Brown’s technical.
“I said to him, ‘You called a tech for no reason.’ He said, ‘If you say it to me again, I’m gonna call another tech.’ And then he called a tech,” a frustrated Brown said postgame.
“Man, get out of here. You can’t threaten guys with a technical foul. That’s not part of the game, either. You want to fine people for gestures and all this stuff, fine that. This is some bulls—. We were down three at the time at the jump ball, and that led to us being down eight, and that affected the game. That could have been avoided. Joe didn’t say anything to deserve a tech. And when I come to you and say you’re giving a tech for no reason, as a captain before the game, I come and shake all the refs’ hands because I speak for my team. I’m allowed to talk. So when I tell you you called a tech for no reason, and you say, ‘If you say it again, I’m calling another tech,’ then I say it again, and you call a tech, you just threatened your whistle as a threat. Like, that’s not a part of the game either, and it’s bulls—.”
Less than 2:30 of game time later, Tatum also picked up a tech, his a “respect for the game technical” for “an overt reaction towards an official.”
“I feel like the segment that Justin had kind of changed the outcome — not the outcome of the game, but kind of just changed that segment of the game,” Tatum said. “You don’t necessarily love that. You want the players to play and dictate the game and stuff like that. But 82 games, sh– happens.”
The technical fouls proved costly, helping the Bulls outscore the Celtics 35-22 in the fourth quarter. After the final buzzer, Mazzulla had to be restrained again by assistant coaches and team security as he tried to confront Van Duyne one more time.
“I just hadn’t seen them in a while, so just a Merry Christmas, a happy holiday,” Mazzulla said after the game when asked what he was trying to say. “I wasn’t sure if I was going to see them before the holiday, and I just can’t let somebody go by without wishing them the best to them and theirs.”
The loss was out of character for the Celtics. Between the dismal shooting, losing the perimeter and rebounding battles, and the loss of composure late, the Celtics were far from themselves. They don’t typically struggle the way they did on Thursday night often, especially not all at once.
The good news? They won’t have to wait long for a chance to bounce back, as they’ll face the Bulls again in Chicago on Saturday night.
“The good thing is, we got the same team coming up,” said Mazzulla. “We just need to find the 15 to 20 possessions that we got to be better at.”
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