It only took 18 games but the Boston Celtics finally took the floor with a fully healthy roster on Friday night, and what better stage to do so than the NBA Cup.
Boston hit the road and arrived in the Windy City in need of a (stipulation) victory over the Chicago Bulls to keep its NBA Cup hopes alive. The standings outlook for Group C, led by the Atlanta Hawks, made the Celtics-Bulls battle significantly complicated with a handful of scenarios that could either make or break Boston’s chances.
Boston’s point differential increased to plus-23 as the Celtics improved to 3-1 in NBA Cup play and 16-3 on the season with a seventh straight victory by defeating the Bulls, 138-129, at United Center.
Here are three studs and three duds from the Celtics’ NBA Cup win:
STUDS
Jayson Tatum
Boston needed scoring efficiency and Tatum provided just that and more.
Tatum secured his eighth double-double of the season midway through the third quarter, finishing with a game-high 35 points and 14 rebounds. The 26-year-old did a little bit of everything from scoring to rim-protecting to facilitating to — perhaps most notably — getting to the free-throw line and challenging Chicago’s defense. Without Tatum’s consistent two-way contribution, the Bulls could’ve easily assembled a run-away rally.
Just another MVP-caliber night from Boston’s MVP.
Nikola Vucevic
The Bulls, too, had a leader of their own to lean on and that was Vucevic.
Chicago’s starting center scored a team-leading 32 points on 11-of-16 shooting from the floor while grabbing 11 rebounds to secure a double-double of his own. Vucevic ripped a page right from Boston’s playbook and shot 6-for-9 from three, making the 6-foot-10 big man a major challenge to defend all night long.
Payton Pritchard
There wasn’t much head coach Joe Mazzulla could rely on off the bench, but Pritchard’s red-hot hand from 3-point range was enough.
Pritchard supplied a season-high 29 points, propelled by a tremendous 19-point fourth-quarter performance. With Derrick White (sore right foot) sidelined and unavailable for the final frame, Pritchard stepped up and followed in Tatum’s footsteps. He grabbed seven rebounds, created scoring chances for teammates and drained seven threes.
DUDS
Boston’s bench production
Defeating anyone in an NBA Cup is difficult enough, however, doing so with nearly zero contribution from the reserve unit made the mission immensely more strenuous.
Pritchard’s 29 points was pretty much all the bench provided. Al Horford (25 minutes), Sam Hauser (22 minutes) Neemias Queta (seven minutes) combined for five points and shot a combined 2-for-11. The Celtics couldn’t trust their depth and rotational flexibility through stretches in which Tatum or any of the starters needed a breather, leaving the load on the starting five to figure it out.
Coby White
The 24-year-old couldn’t get going all night, despite having plenty of chances.
White scored just 11 points on 3-of-10 shooting, including 1-of-7 from three, turning a handful of potential key baskets into wasted opportunities for Chicago. White fought to make up for the ugly offensive showing by logging six rebounds and four assists, but the North Carolina product still dragged the Bulls.
Josh Giddey
The 22-year-old, like White, was also a non-factor.
Giddey got exposed, giving Chicago a minor four-point contribution in 24 starting minutes. He shot 2-of-6 from the field, led the team in turnovers with three, and ended with nine rebounds and eight assists, which could’ve turned into a solid triple-double had Giddey done the bare minimum offensively.
