Jayson Tatum makes Celtics history as Boston pummels Bulls in rematch

Zack Cox, Boston Herald on Dec 21, 2024

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Some of the greatest players in basketball history suited up for the Boston Celtics. None of them matched the stat line Jayson Tatum posted Saturday night in Chicago.

In one of the most impressive performances of this NBA season, Tatum piled up 43 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists as the Celtics routed the Bulls, 123-98. He was the first Boston player ever to post those numbers in a single game and the first player from any team to do so since Luka Doncic in December 2022.

The only other Celtic ever to record a 40-point triple-double was Larry Bird, who had three such games during his Hall of Fame career.

Add in Tatum’s shooting stats (16 for 24 from the floor, 9 for 15 from 3-point range), and he joined an even more exclusive club. The only player ever to go for 43-16-10 with at least nine made 3s: James Harden against the New York Knicks on New Year’s Eve 2016.

Boston also got productive nights from Kristaps Porzingis (22 points, seven rebounds, two steals, two blocks) and Jaylen Brown (19 points, eight assists, five rebounds, one steal) as the Celtics avenged their home loss to Chicago on Thursday. Joe Mazzulla’s club improved to 22-6 and has yet to lose consecutive games this season.

The Celtics’ 3-point issues from Thursday night carried over into Sunday’s rematch. They made just one of their first six 3s, and the Bulls led for much of the first quarter. Boston was able to exploit Chicago’s NBA-worst paint defense, however, starting 7 for 9 on shots inside the restricted area and owning a 14-4 edge in points in the paint during the first quarter.

Brown spearheaded that effort, with all 10 of his first-quarter points coming on shots at the rim or free throws earned through drives. Mazzulla played Brown for the entire opening quarter, subbing out Tatum after eight minutes.

Oddly, for all the success Boston had attacking the rim early, both teams missed badly on dunk attempts in the first quarter, with Derrick White bricking what would have been a highlight-reel jam for the Celtics and the Bulls botching two. That would change as the game progressed.

Tied at 28-28 after one, the Celtics reeled off a rapid 12-2 run midway through the second quarter that put them up double digits. Brown and Tatum provided 10 of those points, and both hit double figures before halftime, with Tatum one rebound shy of a first-half double-double. Porzingis fueled Boston’s offense early in the second, scoring or assisting on each of the Celtics’ first four baskets in the quarter (while adding a pair of free throws).

Boston led by 12 late in the first half, took a 61-54 advantage into the locker room and then dominated a third quarter that featured one eye-popping slam from Porzingis and two from Tatum. Up eight with just over two remaining in the third, Tatum slipped past Coby White at the 3-point line and posterized Jalen Smith at the rim. Then he proceeded to drill two 3s as Boston stretched its lead to 16.

Tatum was close to perfect in the third quarter, going 7 for 8 from the floor and nearly outscoring Chicago by himself (23-18). He also grabbed five rebounds to the Bulls’ six as a team. The Celtics led 93-77 entering the fourth quarter and cruised from there, with Tatum adding his seventh, eighth and ninth 3-pointers before shutting it down for the night.

With core reserve Sam Hauser missing his second straight game with lower back spasms, Mazzulla kept a tight eight-man rotation, using only Al Horford, Luke Kornet and Payton Pritchard off Boston’s bench until garbage time. Kornet and Horford often played together in double-big lineups.

The Celtics will visit the Orlando Magic on Monday night.

Mazzulla fined

Mazzulla’s holiday wishes cost him a pretty penny.

The Celtics head coach was fined $35,000 on Saturday for “aggressively pursuing and directing inappropriate language toward a game official” after Thursday night’s loss to the Bulls.

Mazzulla had to be held back by multiple members of his coaching staff and escorted toward the locker room while attempting to argue with Tony Brothers’ officiating crew. Asked after the game about the exchange, the coach quipped: “I just hadn’t seen them in a while, so (I was saying) just a Merry Christmas, happy holidays,”

Mazzulla was hit with a technical foul during the fourth quarter of the loss for coming onto the court to argue a jump-ball call. He said postgame that he deserved the tech, and he told reporters Saturday that he expected to be fined.

“It is what it is,” Mazzulla said in his pregame news conference. “Those are the rules. … I don’t know if it’s about sending a message, but at the time, I felt like we did what we needed to do, and move on.”