BOSTON — On Saturday night, Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown put on a 50-point performance that fans are sure to remember, as he delivered an offensive masterclass that helped the C's crush the Los Angeles Clippers, 146-115. On Monday night, the Celtics scrapped and clawed with a middling, injured Chicago Bulls squad en route to an ugly 115-101 victory in a game fans are sure to forget.
The beauty of basketball is that both of these wins have the same worth in the standings, regardless of how visually appealing they were. And while beating the Bulls wasn't pretty for the Celtics, head coach Joe Mazzulla was proud of the way his team fought through fatigue.
“They didn't look very good out there,” Mazzulla said with a grin. “But they played hard. I was not pleased with how they looked, but I was pleased with how they tried and how they played and how they competed, but they looked relatively tired.”
Joe Mazzulla joked that the Celtics didn’t look great and were pretty tired, but they still found a way to win:
“They didn’t look very good out there, but they played hard.” pic.twitter.com/USh5xEgRHF
— Daniel Donabedian (@danield1214) January 6, 2026
The Celtics have earned the right to be tired. They just got off a five-game road trip (their longest of the entire season) and went 4-1 during that nine-day span. Sunday was their one day off before hosting the Bulls at TD Garden.
Chicago has also had a busy schedule and was missing a few key players due to injury, including point guard Josh Giddey and center Jalen Smith. This mix of exhaustion and injuries helps explain why the Bulls mustered just 33 points in the first half.
How Celtics found a way to win ugly against Bulls
However, Boston's harassing defense may have played a bigger role in Chicago's struggles. The Celtics forced several Bulls' turnovers in the first half and then dominated them on the boards, procuring 14 offensive rebounds to the Bulls' two. These statistics were why the C's were able to take a 21-point lead through two quarters despite shooting under 36% from the floor.
“Those are the things that you have to [have] — that will help you withstand [droughts],” Mazzulla said of Boston's tight defense and rebounding. “You have to be able to score the ball. You can't just go stretches without doing that. But, your defense has to stay intact. You have to fight for extra shots. You got to turn guys over and play great defense. So, those things you just got to continue to work on and work on, and for the guys to come out and be able to do that, we had the right process for most of the game.”
Joe Mazzulla said the Celtics used defense and rebounding to beat the Bulls tonight:
“Our defense kept us in it.” pic.twitter.com/xbwoUHem2R
— Daniel Donabedian (@danield1214) January 6, 2026
The Bulls' offense woke up in the second half, as they tallied 68 points and even cut the Celtics' lead down to 11 with 4:14 remaining in the fourth quarter. Boston responded by never letting their advantage dip below 10 points for the rest of the game.
“For us to not shoot the ball well at all in that first half, but to play well defensively, it's a sign of a mature team,” Mazzulla praised. “And so, it was impressive…the way they were able to compete tonight, I just liked their competitive spirit throughout the entire game.”
After 48 minutes, neither side had a single player reach 30 points. Neither team shot over 45% from the field, either. Yet, it's still a win for the Celtics at the end of the day, and that's all they care about.
Boston is now 23-12 overall and in second place in the Eastern Conference thanks to its ugly victory. The Celtics have prevailed in eight of their last nine contests and hope to keep that momentum going on Wednesday night versus the Denver Nuggets.
