Bulls vs. Celtics Game 3 recap
Bulls fall 104–87 in their return to the United Center
If you would have told me in October 2016 that a Rajon Rondo thumb injury would be a crushing blow to the Bulls’ hopes to derail the 1-seeded Celtics in the first round of the playoffs, I probably would have laughed in your face. Alas, this is exactly the scenario. After a pair of fairly convincing wins in the first two games, the Bulls met a royal 104–87 thrashing at the United Center in the absence of their only functional point guard.
The Bulls were able to jump out to a shocking 2–0 series lead over the Celtics by moving the ball crisply, crashing the glass with fervor and playing frantic, disruptive defense. In this game, they did none of those things, and the result was as you would expect.
The Bulls fell into a deep hole early, making just six field goals in the first quarter; the Celtics made seven 3-pointers in the same frame. Boston led 33–15 after the first twelve minutes, and the Bulls would never lead for the rest of the game. The Bulls looked more like their early-series selves in the second quarter, boosted by both a percolating Dwyane Wade and some missed open 3s from the Celtics. By halftime, they trailed by just three, 44–41. However, a pair of early second half 3s by Isaiah Thomas put the Celtics back up nine, and the Bulls never really threatened again.
Where did the Bulls go wrong here? It’s hard to say. Rajon Rondo was clearly missed, as point guard play was horrid for most of the night. Neither Jerian Grant nor Michael Carter-Williams were able to make a tangible impact on the game, combining for eight points and three assists on 3-of-10 shooting. Perhaps nothing suffered more at the hands (thumbs?) of Rondo’s injury than the perimeter defense, which looked disoriented for most of the night. Six different Celtics players made multiple 3s, a number that is simply unacceptable for a team attempting to defend their home court. Robin Lopez and Cristiano Felicio continued to do the work on the glass, combining for nine offensive rebounds, but the Celtics countered their lack of interior presence by preying on the Bulls’ weak perimeter defense. It worked.
Ultimately, the Bulls’ biggest failing on Friday night was Jimmy Butler. This is rarely the case, and it feels wrong to pin the blame on the man who is by far the Bulls’ greatest contributor. But man, Jimmy just did not have the sauce this game. He started out by making just one of his first 12 field goal attempts; Jimmy can survive a poor shooting night with his elite foul drawing skills, but those were conspicuously absent as well, as he failed to go to the free throw line even once. The Bulls jacked horrid shots all night, with 60 of their 84 field goal attempts being contested by the Celtics’ defense (19 of Jimmy’s 21 were contested). All of the feel-good ball movement and teamwork of the first two games disappeared, and while Rondo is certainly a major part of that, the team should not have fallen apart as badly as they did.
With one Rajon Rondo swipe at the ball, the potential for a Bulls series upset has swung from very good to very iffy very quickly. There are plenty of things Chicago can do to get back on track, but if tonight’s performance is any indication, we could be in for a long Game 4 on Sunday.
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