The Boston Celtics thought it was all rainbow, butterflies, and clam chowder against the visiting Chicago Bulls on Monday night. After all, they held a 19-point lead heading into the fourth quarter. So everything should be easy-peasy.
The Bulls, however, made a bigger comeback than Mark Wahlberg in Planet of the Apes, eventually pulling off a 128-114 win over the Celtics. DeMar DeRozan and company held the Green Gang to a meager 11 points in the fourth quarter, while scoring 39 of their own. And as they say it in Beantown: Ouch.
Celtics coach Ime Udoka, who dropped to 2-5 in his maiden stint, didn't offer excuses after their monumental meltdown. In fact, he delivered a harsh reality check (via ESPN).
“We got up, got comfortable, got a little bit too cute thinking the game was over in the third quarter. We started celebrating early. It's a good lesson learned: You mess with the game, it will come back to bite you.”
Chew on that, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. But to be fair, the All-Star duo once again played solid ball for the Celtics. Tatum and Brown combined for 48 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists. Tatum, however, struggled with efficiency yet again, shooting just 8-of-22 from the field.
The Celtics had several opportunities to close out the Bulls, but they simply failed to make their shots. The boys from Windy City, on the other hand, were making all sorts of plays on both ends to steal the W.
The Celtics will try not to be too cute against the Orlando Magic on Wednesday.
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