The Celtics fell to the Chicago Bulls 114-111 Saturday at the United Center on a second night of a back-to-back.
Jaylen Brown followed up his 27-point triple-double performance in Boston's 130-126 double overtime win over the Brooklyn Nets Friday with a 33-point, eight-rebound and five-assists showing less than 24 hours later, but it wasn't enough to spoil Derrick Rose Night (jersey retirement ceremony) in Chicago.
Anfernee Simons added 21 points, five assists off the bench, while Derrick White returned from a one-game absence to chip in 15 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
"Obviously, those things can play a factor, but we're not gonna give ourselves any of those types of excuses," Simons told reporters when asked about playing in back-to-backs. "We know we came here to play a game, and we came here fully expecting to win, no matter the cost, no matter what obstacles we had to go through before the game -- the night before, it doesn't really matter."
Payton Pritchard scored only 10 points on 4-of-10 from the field after finishing with a game-high 32 points the night before in the win over Brooklyn, as the Celtics dropped to 28-17 on the season with a one-game lead over the Toronto Raptors for the East's second-best record.
Coby White led the Bulls with 22 points on 5-of-9 from behind the arc to go along with seven assists. Nikola Vucevic had 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists, while Jalen Smith (nine rebounds) and Matas Buzelis (eight rebounds, five assists) each notched 14 points respectively in Chicago's fourth straight win -- as eight players reached double-digit scoring to improve to 23-22 in the standings.
Neither team led by more than eight points in another nail bitter down the stretch, but the home team was on fire from 3-point range -- connecting on 21-of-45 (47%) from long distance and Boston was only 15-of-47 (32%) from deep.
With the Bulls ahead 111-109, Coby White missed a layup and Smith also missed the putback, before Brown grabbed the rebound and drove coast-to-coast to hit a layup of his own to tie it leaving 14.2 seconds on the game clock.
Following a timeout, Chicago set up Kevin Huerter (12 points, six rebounds) for a corner 3-pointer (his second made of the night) with 0.2 seconds left -- after the Bulls had missed their prior seven attempts from 3 in the final five minutes.
The Celtics return home to host the Portland Trail Blazer (23-23) at TD Garden Monday night and Peacock has the tip-off at 8:00 pm ET.
Game Notes:
Boston hit 44% of their field goal attempts to the Bulls 51% from the floor and were out-rebounded 44-38, but did outscore the home team in the paint 52-42. The Celtics had 28 assists on 44 baskets with only six turnovers committed to Chicago's 32 dimes on 43 made shots and turned the ball over 15 times.
Joel Pavón
The Celtics suffered a tough 114-111 loss to the Bulls in a closely contested game that remained competitive until the final seconds. Despite Jaylen Brown's efforts to tie the game with a coast-to-coast layup, Chicago responded after a timeout with a clutch corner three-pointer from Kevin Huerter with just 0.2 seconds remaining. Boston struggled to match the Bulls' hot shooting from beyond the arc, as Chicago connected on 47% of its three-point attempts compared to the Celtics' 32%. Coby White led the Bulls with 22 points and seven assists, while several Chicago players contributed in a balanced offensive performance that featured eight scorers in double figures. For Boston, Payton Pritchard could not replicate his previous night's scoring explosion, finishing with 10 points after a 32-point outing against Brooklyn. The loss dropped the Celtics to 28-17 on the season, though they maintained a slim lead over Toronto for the Eastern Conference's second-best record as they prepared to return home to face Portland.
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