BOSTON — Jayson Tatum had 36 points and 12 rebounds, including some late free throws to help the Boston Celtics hold on for a 123-119 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Friday night.
Malcolm Brogdon added 25 points on 9-of-10 shooting and Jaylen Brown scored 16 points for the Celtics, who have won two of three.
Advertisement
DeMar DeRozan had a season-high 46 points, Nikola Vučević added 24 points and 12 rebounds and Zach LaVine scored 16 points for the Bulls, who were denied its first three-game winning streak of the season.
The Celtics took a 93-87 lead into the fourth quarter and increased it to 105-91 with just more than seven minutes to play. A 3-pointer by Vučević capped a 12-4 run to help the Bulls cut their deficit to 109-103.
Advertisement
Brogdon scored on a driving layup, was fouled and completed the three-point play to briefly give the Celtics some breathing room. The Bulls stayed close and another Vučević 3 trimmed it to 114-110, followed by a miss by Al Horford.
DeRozan, who shot 13-for-23 from the field and 20 of 22 from the free-throw line, was fouled by Derrick White and hit a pair of free throws. White responded on the Celtics’ next possession, drilling a 3 from the wing with 1 minute, 6 seconds remaining.
Vučević was good again from 3 on the Bulls’ next trip to make it 117-115. Horford missed a corner 3 attempt, but Tatum pulled down the rebound and was fouled by LaVine.
Chicago Tribune Sports
Weekdays
A daily sports newsletter delivered to your inbox for your morning commute.
Tatum made only one of his free throws, giving the ball back to the Bulls. Tatum got a steal, but LaVine picked off his outlet pass. Patrick Williams misfired and it was gathered and tossed to Tatum, who was fouled.
This time he was good on both free throws and the Celtics were able to close it out at the foul line.
Bulls: Reserve center Andre Drummond sat for the fourth straight game with a sprained right shoulder. … The Bulls had 15 bench points after scoring 49 in a win Wednesday against the Charlotte Hornets. … Ayo Dosunmu finished with 11 points, going 5 of 8 from the field. He entered the night shooting 90% (27 of 30), including 10 of 10 from beyond the arc, in four games against the Celtics.
Celtics: They led 63-57 at the half, outscoring the Bulls 37-26 in the second quarter. … New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick sat with Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens in his suite.
The Celtics ended the Bulls’ recent clampdown on the defensive end and avoided becoming the third consecutive opponent the Bulls had held below the century mark.
Advertisement
The Bulls dominated under the basket in their first meeting with the Celtics last month, holding a 12-point scoring edge in the paint on the way to a 20-point victory at the United Center.
The Celtics used much of the same blueprint Friday, outscoring the Bulls 52-34 in the paint. The Celtics bench contributed 41 points.
