Key Moment
Al Horford entered Monday night as the NBA’s leading scorer from the right corner. It was only fitting, then, that he scored from that location with 25.5 seconds left to secure another victory for the Boston Celtics.
With Boston leading by only two during the final minute, the Chicago Bulls swarmed Jayson Tatum with a double-team on the right wing to get the ball out of his hands. Tatum patiently accepted the double and calmly dished a bounce-pass to Horford, who was open in the right corner. Horford caught the ball and fired up a 3-pointer that, after touching every bit of the rim, eventually fell through the net to push Boston ahead by five.
That shot sealed the victory, but Tatum still had some icing to put on the cake. Derrick White grabbed a rebound after the C’s forced a miss out of Zach LaVine on Chicago’s ensuing possession, and he then found Tatum leaking out for a fast break. Tatum took one dribble and rose up for a dunk that he awkwardly flushed home while being fouled by Alex Caruso.
Tatum knew that was the exclamation point on the win, as was evidenced by his emotional scream to the crowd following the dunk.
He went on to drop in the free throw to cap off his 32-point night and Boston’s 107-99 victory over Chicago.
Key Player
Have yourself a night, Grant Williams!
Williams was so excellent Monday night that he earned the second-most minutes on the entire team at 37, trailing only Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown’s 38 apiece. He was outstanding across the board while totaling 20 points, eight rebounds, two blocks and one assist.
Boston’s reserve big man typically gets his scoring done from beyond the arc, but on Monday, he caught his rhythm from inside the 3-point line. Williams scored his first four baskets of the night from inside the paint, where he shot a perfect 5-for-5 on the night. He eventually connected from long distance during the third quarter before adding two more triples in during the final frame. Williams shot 8-for-15 overall on the night and scored nine points during the decisive fourth quarter.
Box Score Nuggets
- Jayson Tatum led the game with 32 points, and led the Celtics with eight rebounds and seven assists.
- Grant Williams came off the bench to tie Tatum for the team lead in rebonds with eight, while also scoring 20 points.
- Boston's largest lead was 16 points, while Chicago's was just three.
- The Celtics won despite shooting just 43.7 percent from the field and 26.8 percent from long distance.
- Jaylen Brown logged 19 points to go along with five rebounds and three assists.
- Zach LaVine led Chicago with 27 points and six assists.
- Boston was nearly perfect from the free-throw line, where it made 20 of its 21 attempts.
- Boston out rebounded Chicago 50-42 despite Bulls big man Nikola Vucevic leading the game with 13 boards.
- The Celtics' bench outscored Chicago's 34-22.
Quote of the Night
"Rob's phenomenal, man. He's such a special part of this team."
- Grant Williams on Robert Williams