Boston advances to NBA In-Season quarterfinals after crushing Chicago

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

The Boston Celtics marched to the quarterfinal round of the ongoing NBA In-Season Tournament after obliterating the Chicago Bulls, 124-97, last November 29, 2023.

Jaylen Brown took charge for the Celtics after top-scoring the game with 30 big markers built from an efficient 12/23 shooting from the field.

Aside from flaunting his scoring prowess, the athletic shooting guard also stuffed the stat sheets after tallying eight rebounds, six assists, and a block.

It didn’t take long for Boston to take control of the Eastern Conference showdown as they quickly built an 11-point lead after the end of the opening frame, 31-20.

As Chicago switched up their defense to limit Boston’s drives inside the paint, the Celtics then did damage from downtown that blew the game wide open heading into the second half, 69-50.

The Bulls just didn’t have answers to Boston’s waxing hot shooting from the three-point area and could only try to fish for fouls in their drive-and-kick offense.

Boston ended the game with an impressive 21/49 shooting from deep, their season-high in terms of drained treys so far.

The Celtics also out-maneuvered the Bulls with their crisp ball movement and racked up 36 total assists in the blowout win.

It was a balanced attack from the top Eastern squad as five other players reached double-digits in scoring aside from Brown.

The Celtics got 21 points from Jayson Tatum, 16 from Al Horford, 14 each from Derrick White and Jrue Holiday, and 11 from Payton Pritchard.

On the other hand, the Bulls continued their struggles in the first half of the NBA season as they extended their losing streak to five straight games.

Chicago will look to snap its skid and return to the winning column on December 1, 2023, against the Milwaukee Bucks at home.