The Boston Celtics despatched Chicago Bulls middle Andre Drummond to the road six instances within the fourth quarter of a 27-point blowout on Tuesday.
It wasn’t a mistake — fairly the alternative. A win wasn’t sufficient for the Celtics. In order to advance within the In-Season Tournament, they wanted to beat the Bulls by as many factors as attainable to safe a excessive level differential and declare the wild-card seed.
So even after racking up a 34-point lead, the Celtics by no means took their foot off the fuel. They stored their starters within the sport till the ultimate whistle. And halfway by the fourth quarter, they started hacking Drummond — who shoots a 47.7% profession common on the line — in an try to maintain the Bulls from scoring.
For coach Billy Donovan, the tactic was a step too far. He walked to midcourt a number of instances to confront Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla as he directed his crew to foul Drummond.
“Andre is a veteran guy,” Donovan mentioned. “Tonight, I told (Mazzulla), I was like, ‘What are we doing here?’ I get it on keeping your guys in, wanting to get in, the league’s made this a big deal. I just thought it was putting Andre in a tough spot in a 30-point game. I didn’t like that.”
The tactic additionally labored. Drummond went 1-for-6 from the road earlier than Donovan pulled him from the sport. And the Celtics superior to the quarterfinals with the win. But Mazzulla nonetheless tracked down Donovan after the sport to apologize, providing to talk with Drummond as nicely.
With the loss, the Bulls slipped to 5-14 on the season. Here are three different takeaways from the sport.
1. Bulls path double digits within the first quarter for the fifth time this season.
Yes, it is a damaged report — the Bulls usually are not an excellent first-quarter crew. That development continued in Boston.
Tuesday’s begin was not precisely sluggish. Yet the Bulls nonetheless trailed by 11 factors by the tip of the primary quarter, marking the fifth time they’ve trailed by double digits within the first quarter this season. The Bulls shot solely 30.8% from the sector within the opening quarter. Despite taking a 3-point lead and tying the sport 5 instances, they couldn’t maintain tempo for longer than six minutes earlier than slipping behind.
2. Patrick Williams continues his scoring streak in bodily efficiency.
Donovan selected to begin Patrick Williams for a second sport in a row regardless of the return of Alex Caruso, who got here off the bench.
There’s nonetheless loads of room for Williams to develop, however Tuesday he showcased a number of enhancements — particularly within the first half.
Williams went 4-for-6 from the sector within the first half, muscling his technique to the rim a number of instances and responding rapidly to a brutal block by Al Horford within the second quarter. He scored 4 factors within the second half after the robust begin, however nonetheless completed with 14 factors, seven rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a steal.
The Bulls are hungry for silver linings this season. Growth — even carefully — for Williams may very well be a welcome optimistic for this crew.
3. Zach LaVine exits early after a tepid scoring night time.
After a tepid efficiency within the first three quarters of the blowout, Zach LaVine was dominated out of the fourth quarter with a proper foot harm. He has been on the harm report for the final week after struggling a proper foot sprain throughout a house sport towards Miami, which pressured him to overlook final week’s sport towards the Thunder in Oklahoma City.
LaVine didn’t rating in Boston till there have been 17 seconds left within the first half, going 1-for-7 from the sector and 0-for-2 from 3-point vary. He didn’t take a shot within the third quarter and a single steal was the one offensive statistic he registered within the body.
After the sport, LaVine mentioned he has been managing ache by the previous three video games. The Bulls haven’t decided if they should shut the guard down for any time period to expedite his restoration.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com