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Key Moment
Dwyane Wade made just seven 3-pointers on 44 attempts last season with the Miami Heat.
With one game in the books for the 2016-17 season, he is already 4-of-6 from beyond the arc.
Wade made his debut for his hometown Chicago Bulls Thursday night and put on a rare 3-point display against the Boston Celtics, as he scored 22 points during Chicago’s 105-99 season-opening win.
The four treys marked the most in a game for Wade since Jan. 8, 2013, and his biggest one came during the crunch time moments of Chicago’s nail-biting win.
Boston had trailed 95-81 with 7:04 remaining in the game, but it stormed back on an 18-6 run that cut its deficit to two points with just over a minute to play.
The Celtics had possession, down 101-99, and Jaylen Brown attempted to tie the game with a turnaround jumper. However, he couldn’t get a clean look at the basket, nor could he get a pass off to one of his teammates, so he came down with the ball and was called for traveling.
The veteran Wade then capitalized on the rookie’s mistake and swished a contested step-back corner 3 that put the Bulls up 104-99 with 26.3 seconds remaining.
That dagger clinched the game for Chicago, and it put a seal on Wade’s strong homecoming performance.
Key Player
The Celtics are just two games into the season, but Avery Bradley has been absolutely stuffing the stat sheet so far.
Bradley, coming off a 17-point, nine-rebound, five-assist opening night performance against the Brooklyn Nets, continued with his all-around success Thursday night by logging 16 points, six rebounds and five assists against the Bulls. He shot 6-of-12 from the field and played a game-high 41 minutes.
The guard didn't just stuff the box score, either. Bradley's highlight of the night came during the second quarter when he stuffed a Jimmy Butler layup attempt despite having a five-inch disadvantage.
Unfortunately, Bradley's efforts were all for naught as Boston found itself at a six-point disadvantage when the final horn sounded.
Box Score Nuggets
- Chicago scored 18 second chance points on 18 offensive rebounds.
- Boston tallied just five second chance points on three offensive boards.
- The Bulls won the total rebounding battle, 55-36
- Isaiah Thomas scored a game-high 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting.
- Thomas struggled from the free throw line where he shot 3-for-7, tying his career high in misses.
- Dwyane Wade notched 22 points, six rebounds and five assists during his Chicago homecoming game.
- Chicago attempted 92 shots to Boston's 76.
- The Celtics, however, were more efficient, shooting 50.0 percent from the field to the Bulls' 39.1 percent clip.
- Taj Gibson logged the game's only double-double with 18 points and 10 boards.
- Tyler Zeller was the only player who blocked multiple shots. He swatted two.
- Chicago only blocked one shot as a team.
- Rajon Rondo dished out a game-high nine assists during his Bulls debut.
- Wade and Jimmy Butler both shot 4-of-6 from 3-point range.
Quote of the Night
Tyler Zeller on Chicago's rebounding advantage..