News and notes from the Boston Celtics’ 104-87 Game 3 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Friday night:
— Though this game technically was not a must-win for the Celtics, it was pretty darn close.
A loss would have dropped Boston — the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference — into a 0-3 series hole after it dropped Games 1 and 2 at home to the eighth-seeded Chicago Bulls. No NBA team ever has won four consecutive elimination games to win a playoff series.
Friday’s victory completely changed the complexion of the series. If the Celtics can prevail again Sunday in Game 4, they’ll regain home-court advantage and head back to Boston all tied up at two wins apiece.
“We weren’t coming here hoping to get a win,” Celtics guard Avery Bradley told reporters after the game, via Celtics.com. “We knew we were coming here to win both games.”
— The Celtics scored this win against a Bulls team that was without point guard Rajon Rondo, who flourished against his former team in Games 1 and 2.
Chicago made the surprising announcement Friday afternoon that Rondo would be out indefinitely with a fractured thumb, and his absence clearly hamstrung the Bulls’ offense. They simply had no replacement for the mercurial ex-Celtic, and the two who tried — starting point guard Jerian Grant and backup Michael Carter-Williams — had a minimal impact on the game.
Grant and Carter-Williams combined for eight points (3-of-10 shooting), five rebounds, three assists and seven turnovers in 38 minutes of action.
— Even in street clothes, Rondo remained the center of attention at the United Center. Partially because those clothes looked like this:
https://twitter.com/SInow/status/855560294382358532
Rondo also inserted himself into the spotlight by extending his right leg as Celtics wing Jae Crowder jogged past the Bulls bench. It sure looked like a not-so-subtle attempt to trip Crowder, but Rondo had a different explanation when asked about the exchange after the game.
— If we told you Isaiah Thomas would have one of his worst scoring outputs of the season in Game 3, you probably wouldn’t have felt too great about the Celtics’ chances, right? Well, that’s exactly what happened.
Thomas’ 16 points Friday night (on 7-of-18 shooting) represented his second-lowest total of the season after his 13-point showing in Boston’s regular-season finale. The All-Star point guard also did not attempt a single free throw for just the third time all season.
Yet the Celtics led by double digits for the much of the game, thanks in large part to the work of Thomas’ fellow starters — Al Horford (18 points, eight rebounds, six assists, four steals) and Bradley (15 points, seven rebounds, seven assists), in particular.
— With Bradley hounding him throughout the game, Bulls star Jimmy Butler had his worst game of the series, finishing with 14 points on 7-of-21 shooting (including 0-for-4 from 3-point range) to go along with seven rebounds and zero assists.
Butler racked up 30 points in Chicago’s Game 1 win and flirted with a triple-double (22 points, eight boards, eight helpers) in Game 2.
Thumbnail photo via Caylor Arnold/USA TODAY Sports Images
