jQuery(document).ready(function() { addByline("Marc D'Amico", "Celtics.com", "Marc_DAmico"); keysToTheGame('post'); });
Key Moment
The Celtics signed Jonathan Gibson Wednesday afternoon. By Wednesday night, he was playing a key role in Boston’s most important run of the night during a 111-104 win.
Gibson started the fourth quarter and before anyone knew it, he was canning 3s and sparking a Boston run. Semi Ojeleye and Gibson each made a 3-pointer 54 seconds apart during the opening moments of the fourth period. Gibson connected on another, and another, all in less than five minutes, and that third trey pushed Boston ahead 95-90 with 7:30 remaining.
Gibson’s third and final 3-pointer of the night was scored during the early moments of a critical 10-2 run that helped Boston to build a nine-point lead with 5:10 remaining. The Celtics maintained at least a two-possession lead from that point on before finishing off the visiting Bulls.
Key Player
Jaylen Brown came out hot – twice – Friday night at the Garden. He lit the Bulls up right after the opening tip, and then he did so again following halftime.
It took Boston’s starting shooting guard less than five minutes to tally up his first 12 points Wednesday night. He made five of Boston’s first seven shots, equaling Chicago’s team total at that point, and three of those buckets were scored in a span of only 35 seconds.
Not a bad start, huh?
Brown cooled off and scored only three more points over the final 19 minutes of the half, but that didn’t matter, because he started cooking at the start of the second half as well.
Brown scored eight more points over the first two and a half minutes of the third quarter to turn a three-point halftime deficit into a four-point lead. At that point of the contest, he had made eight of his first 12 shots, including four of his six 3-pointers.
By the end of the night, Brown had scored a career-high 32 points that were highlighted by his career-best seven made 3-pointers. He shot 11-for-19 overall, and 7-for-10 from long range.
While Greg Monroe logged his first triple-double with the C’s, it was Brown’s scoring that paced the team from start to finish, including a hot start to each half.
Box Score Nuggets
- Greg Monroe compiled his first triple-double with the C's, with 19 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.
- Jaylen Brown scored a career-high 32 points and made a career-best seven 3s.
- Jabari Bird scored a career-high 15 points on 7-for-10 shooting.
- Lauri Markkanen scored 20 points and did not play during the fourth quarter.
- Marcus Morris and Bobby Portis were ejected during the third quarter after being assessed back-to-back double-technicals.
- The Celtics scored 25 points off of Chicago's 17 turnovers.
- Boston tallied a season-best 35 assists.
- Sean Kilpatrick led the Bulls with 24 points.
- Both teams led by at least 10 points during the game.
- Each team's bench scored at least 50 points (52 for Chicago, 50 for Boston).
- The Celtics shot a woeful 7-for-17 (41.2 percent) from the free-throw line.
- Boston shot the exact same percentage from long distance, 41.2 percent, as it did from the free-throw line.
- The two teams combined to shoot just 17-for-34 from the free-throw line, good for 50 percent.
Quote of the Night
Brad Stevens on Jonathan Gibson, who signed with the C's Friday.