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    Late in the fourth quarter, the Boston Celtics hold off the Chicago Bulls to win 107-99.

    Boston Celtics fend off Chicago Bulls late in fourth quarter, win 107-99 - CelticsBlog

    Only one team seemed to genuinely frustrate the Boston Celtics during their 21-5 start to the 2022–23 regular season: the Chicago Bulls, who defeated them twice in routs while the Celtics’ other three losses were all decided by overtime. Despite having a fairly erratic season, the Bulls have been fierce competitors with the Celtics this year for whatever reason. This pattern persisted once more tonight, but the Celtics eventually defeated Chicago 107-99 to knot the season series 2-2.

    NBA: Jayson Tatum Stars as Celtics Hold Off Bulls, Nuggets and Grizzlies Win

    Jayson Tatum led the way for the Celtics with 32 points, backed up by 20 points from Grant Williams and 19 from Jaylen Brown. The Bulls lost star DeMar DeRozan to an injury early in the second half, but still managed to keep the game close behind 27 points from a resurgent Zach LaVine and 21 from center Nikola Vucevic.

    NBA-best Celtics keep on rolling, knock off Bulls

    Two days after Tatum expressed his desire to have Robert Williams III return to the starting lineup, he got his wish. With Marcus Smart (left knee contusion) sidelined, Joe Mazzulla opted to return the fourth-year center to his starting role. The move paid dividends immediately, as Williams quickly snaked his way open for a pair of finishes in the paint off of feeds from his teammates, while added a blocked shot and setting a number of quality screens in the first quarter.

    Alongside Williams, both Tatum (16 points) and Brown (15) were effective in the first half, and the bench contributed a solid 15 points collectively. But the Bulls played the Celtics as tough as they have all season, refusing to allow Boston to gain much distance for most of the half. As the second quarter wound down, however, the Celtics pulled off a 15-5 run to finally give them a couple possessions’ worth of space. They entered the halftime break leading by nine, 59-50.

    A scary moment arose early in the third quarter, as DeRozan hit the floor while attempting to work against Al Horford off the dribble. He hit the floor after what appeared to be a non-contact injury to his knee, and stayed down for some time. DeRozan remained in the game after the ensuing TV timeout and appeared to have avoided significant injury, but returned to the locker room shortly thereafter and was quickly ruled out for the evening with a right quad strain.

    The second half began with a Chicago surge, pulling themselves back within one possession early in the third quarter. But as play resumed after the DeRozan injury, the scales tipped heavily in the Celtics’ favor. Led by a surge from Tatum, they flipped the script on Chicago midway through the third, managing to extend their lead heading into the final frame, 84-73.

    Even without DeRozan on the court, the Bulls refused to go quietly. It was far from an explosive run, but they clawed their way back within five points in the early minutes of the fourth quarter, aided by a lengthy scoreless streak from the Celtics’ offense. It was a game of push-and-pull from there, as the Celtics fought back to extend their lead, but struggled through some bricked wide-open looks before LaVine connected on a deep, contested three to cut the score to 96-91 with just under four minutes left to play.

    LaVine struck again moments later, following a Nikola Vucevic three-pointer with another one of his own to bring Chicago within two. A pair of Tatum free throws and a Vucevic layup later, the game came to a crucial sequence with less than a minute to play. LaVine couldn’t connect on a mid-range jumper, and the Celtics let the clock run, leading to an enormous three from Horford with 24 seconds remaining in regulation.

    From there, Tatum put the game on ice.

    Next up, the Celtics will kick off a back-to-back against a pair of teams missing their star players, facing off against the New Orleans Pelicans (sans-Zion Williamson) this Wednesday at 7:30 PM EST on NBC Sports Boston.

    Source: https://www.celticsblog.com

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