Bulls knockout road-weary Boston Celtics 108–85

Team receives unexpected 47 points combined from Nikola Mirotic and Bobby Portis

Alright, so the Chicago Bulls clobbered the Boston Celtics by 23 points last night. And yes, I did expect the Bulls to have a decent chance to win this game even before I knew Kyrie Irving would be out. This game was the third of three straight road games for Boston. It also was the second night of a back-to-back for them. So while I understand many Bulls fans worrying about the first three-game win streak of the season, I want to remind people that Chicago will have plenty trouble with their next 56 games. The Bulls have an especially rough late-December slate with multiple road games against Eastern Conference contenders, so I’m OK with a little confidence building for the young bunch. Now, on to the recap.

The Bulls victory over the Kyrie-less Celtics was sparked by…..well, the lack of Kyrie. Boston head coach Brad Stevens runs a great system, but when it breaks down Kyrie Irving is the guy who can simply pulverize his defender into oblivion with his handles and get a good shot off. Without Irving’s one-on-one magic, Stevens counted on Boston’s 3-point shooting, and Terry Rozier off the bench for scoring. The Bulls actually played solid defense, holding the Celtics to 39.8 percent shooting from the field. Chicago held Boston to 14 free throws (compared to the Bulls 25 FTs). And to top it all off, the young Bulls only had eight turnovers on the night.

If you protect the ball on offense and give effort on defense, you give yourself a chance to win every night. And though this win takes the Bulls out of sole possession of last place for a day, I’m glad the Bulls were able to put together a three-game win streak. Statistics have backed up the fact that almost every team in the NBA has a three-game win streak at some point in any given season, so why not early on? It would’ve been a little painful for the Bulls to break ground on awfulness.

Welcome to Bizarro World:

This game reminded me of one my early screenplays called “Bizarro World” that I never finished because, frankly, it sucked. Without getting into the plot of the screenplay — the name should tell you enough — this game was bizzare in many ways. It was a defensive slugfest to open up (not that bizarre). Both teams were contesting shots as often as they were missing them. As the Bulls got going on offense, Marcus Smart — he of the career 29.1 percent 3-point percentage — decided to tray to spark the Boston offense with his shaky shooting. He succeeded.

Smart took six 3-pointers in the game, and all three of his makes came in the first quarter. Marcus Smart shot 3-of-6 from 3-point range against the Bulls (very bizarre). 50 percent from deep from a guy who occasionally misses the entire basket with his jump shot.

Welcome to Bizarro World Part 2, Even more bizarre:

In the sequel to Bizzaro World Part 2, Even more bizarre, two sworn enemies make a pact. They join forces to beat down another already weakened foe so they can equally bask in the glory of victory for once.

David Nwaba, “The Plus/Minus” Master

David Nwaba has endeared himself to Bulls Nation through his tenacity on defense and his propensity for uber-athletic plays. But something that the Bulls broadcast team touches on often is how good things happen when Nwaba is on the court.

He leads the Bulls on the season in plus/minus rating (rating that reflects how your team did while said player was on the court). During last night’s game against the Celtics Nwaba finished +30 in 27 minutes off the bench.

Nwaba made numerous plays off-ball that are not always noticed by casual fans during games. In the specific clip I have below, Nwaba does something that would make him fit right in with the World Champion Golden State Warriors. He starts to screen Paul Zisper’s man as soon as he sees Denzel Valetine get baseline penetration. This frees up Zipser for a wide-open 3-pointer. Now imagine how much cooler that will look when Nwaba is setting that screen for Zach LaVine.

Nikola “I’ve got a (trade) chip on my shoulder” Mirotic

I am not worried about Nikola Mirotic’s skill level netting the Bulls a few wins too many. Not because I don’t think Mirotic is decent. I just hold onto the belief that the Bulls will still trade him at some point during the season when he is playing well.

Last night he was on fire. He finally used his pump-fake in situations where it made sense. Mirotic made shots over smaller defenders, and took bigger defenders off the dribble with his quickness. He did all of that stuff when he wasn’t draining triples like his name was “Nikola Stojakovic”.

Can we get Bryan Colangelo on the phone?!

Extras, just for you! The loyal readers of Bulls Confidential:

Celtics fans are sensitive about their hideous alternate uniforms :

Early candidate for “#BullsNation Tweet of the Year”

How to have fun when you’re tied for worst record in the league:

The Bulls are back at it tomorrow night at 7pm CST against rookie sensation Donovan Mitchell and the Utah Jazz at the United Center.