Three Studs, Three Duds As Celtics Collapse In Clutch To Bulls

BOSTON — The Celtics got right back to work coming off a three-day break while the NBA Cup finished off in Las Vegas, doing so by playing through the team’s off-court worries involving Jaylen Brown and assistant coach Amile Jefferson.

Brown and Jefferson were targets of two separate home invasions, in Wellesley and Newton, Massachusetts, during Sunday’s matchup against the Washington Wizards. State police, in collaboration with the Celtics, have worked to address and alleviate the incidents as head coach Joe Mazzulla explained.

Boston, however, failed to overcome its adverse stretches, the absence of outside-shooting snipper Sam Hauser, and an off night from beyond the arch as the Celtics found their way back to the loss column and fell to 21-6 on the season.

Here are three studs and three duds from Boston’s 117-108 loss to Chicago:

STUDS
Jayson Tatum
Tatum helped alleviate Boston’s 3-for-16 start from 3-point range in the first quarter by scoring 12 points early to lead the frame. The five-time All-Star ended the night scoring a team-leading 31 points with 10 rebounds, four assists and two steals to notch his 13th double-double.

Zach LaVine
If there’s one person to look out for in Chicago, it’s LaVine, and the Dunk Contest legend himself put on a show to keep the Bulls competitive throughout the night. LaVine ripped a page right from Mazzulla’s playbook by shooting an impressive 6-for-11 from beyond the arc, powering the Bulls to keep Boston on its toes. He logged a game-leading 36 points with six rebounds and four assists.

Payton Pritchard
No reserve in the league has been as effective as Pritchard this season, and that rang true once again. Pritchard scored 14 points off the bench while also grabbing six rebounds and dishing out three assists, making the league’s frontrunner for the Sixth Man of the Year award responsible for nearly all of Boston’s bench scoring (16 points).

DUDS
Boston’s outside shooting
The Celtics opened up the night missing three of their first four 3-point attempts — badly. Each attempt barely — or didn’t at all — graze the rim, which previewed the greater struggles that soon later followed. Boston’s greatest strength of out-shooting and out-draining deep-range attempts wasn’t at its disposal as the team finished 14-of-56 (25%) — well below its season average.

Jaylen Brown and Joe Mazzulla
Boston’s co-star contracted the uncharacteristic shooting woes, coming up empty on each of his first seven shot attempts from three. Brown finished with 19 points on 7-of-17 shooting from the floor with three rebounds, four assists and three turnovers, registering a minus-19 rating, which was the worst of anyone who took the floor.

Brown and Mazzulla were both charged with back-to-back technical fouls in the fourth quarter, allowing the Bulls to turn a one-score game into a contest-sealing 18-12 rally in the final 5:12 minutes. Boston’s response was fierce, but too messy to clean up for the (many) slip-ups.