NBA BOSTON -- For the seventh time this year, the Bulls had to go into a game without MVP point guard Derrick Rose, who has been battling a problem with back spasms for weeks after dealing with a toe issue earlier in the year. On Sunday against the Celtics, Rose was badly missed, as Chicago wrapped up a nine-game road trip with a 95-91 wire-to-wire loss here at TD Garden.
The Celtics, who had lost their previous two games, scored their biggest win of the season in downing the Bulls, the best team in the East. They did it by shredding the Bulls’ vaunted defense, which came into the game allowing an average of 86.9 points and 42.3 percent shooting. The Celtics shot 49.3 on the day, to just 38.6 percent for a very tired-looking Bulls squad. Still, the Celtics nearly blew a 14-point fourth-quarter lead in the final five minutes, with the Bulls getting to within three points with 25 seconds to play. C.J.Watson—Rose’s replacement—missed a jumper with 22.5 seconds to play that helped the Celtics hold on.
“They were very aggressive,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. “I thought they got some easy baskets early, which gave them confidence. I think they had 28 in the first quarter, which is too much, particularly when you are on the road. So we were a little careless on the ball, not that we had a lot of turnovers early, but they were costly ones. I believe we had six in the first half and they converted on all of them. It gave them a cushion, they played from a lead and that’s a tough thing to do against a quality team.”
Boston point guard Rajon Rondo, for one, took full advantage of Rose’s absence, recording a triple-double. On Friday, Rondo had one of his worst games of the year, scoring five points with seven assists and five turnovers in a flat loss to the Raptors in Toronto. He turned that around against Chicago, though, leading the Celtics with 32 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds. Kevin Garnett pitched in 13 points and 12 rebounds.
“When he’s assertive, aggressive, the way he plays, the way he played tonight, we’re a tough team to stop,” Boston captain Paul Pierce said of Rondo’s effort. “When he’s out in transition, pushing the ball, taking the shots right there, the midrange, rebounding, he’s just all energy. He’s one of those guys when he plays with a lot of energy, he’s so tough because he can rebound the ball well, (and) when he pushes off the break he’s tough to stop in transition. He just did it all tonight. He was great to watch.”
Chicago is still without shooting guard Richard Hamilton, who has played only 11 games this season due to a groin problem. The Celtics were without top reserve Brandon Bass, who is expected to miss about two weeks with a knee issue. Rookie forward JaJuan Johnson got the bulk of Bass’ minutes on Sunday, and responded with 12 points and four rebounds.
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