Celtics

Jayson Tatum called for Robert Williams to start in his postgame comments following the Spurs game, and he was rewarded on Monday.

But White made up the ground quickly and met Dosunmu at the rim to send the shot packing. He continues to show a lot of promise driving into the paint like a bowling ball rumbling toward the strike pocket with an increasingly wide and varied offensive skill set. Navigating a screen on a sideline out-of-bounds play, White appeared beaten by Ayo Dosunmu, who cut to the hoop for a layup. The first was over Horford, who struggled to defend LaVine when he went to the rim. But he has the ability to play off the ball as well, which is something that we did a lot of, and we have to continue to work toward that. Grant Williams recorded his first 20-point game of the season and was the Celtics’ second-highest scorer, shooting 8-for-15 from the floor. LaVine made his first six shots of the quarter, but he missed three step-back jumpers as the Bulls tried to finish their comeback. He dished to Al Horford for a dagger 3-pointer that bounced in with under a minute remaining, and his and-one dunk with 12 seconds remaining sent the TD Garden into hysterics. Williams played well as part of a familiar double-big lineup, and his presence seemed to spark a big first quarter as the Celtics used him to create 2-on-1s in the pick-and-roll getting to the basket. As he went to the line for his free-throw, fans chanted “M-V-P” with extra zeal. I thought we did a better job in the second half finding the 2-on-1 based on his rolls, his screening, and what he brings to the table. The biggest news Monday was Robert Williams’ return to the starting lineup, with Marcus Smart sidelined with a knee contusion.

After 41 games the Celtics own the NBA's best record, thanks to Monday night's win over the Bulls. We share our takeaways from the victory, ...

After Horford's clutch 3 that put Boston back up five, Tatum added the exclamation point with an and-1 that put the game out of reach. [Al Horford](https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/celtics/al-horford?b) came through with a clutch 3 that proved to be the dagger with 24 seconds left. Tatum shot 10-of-21 from the floor (4-of-11 3-PT) while also adding eight rebounds and seven assists to his stat line. The Celtics will be faced with a big decision on Williams in a few months. The 24-year-old dropped 32 in Monday's win for his 21st 30-point game of the season. Williams went to the bench after a five-minute stint to start the game. Until then, the C's will be happy they have him on the bench to help on their quest for Banner 18. Williams injected energy into the game with his performance on both ends of the floor. He made his presence felt early with big plays on both ends of the court. [Joe Mazzulla](https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/celtics/joe-mazzulla?b) continued to carefully manage Williams' minutes. The Celtics offense stalled with a four-minute scoreless drought before finally waking up and escaping with a 107-99 win. With the victory, the C's evened the season series vs.

Jayson Tatum scored 32 points as Boston beats Chicago, 107-99, and reaches the season's midway point with the NBA's best record at 29-12.

… Bulls guard Alex Caruso returned in the first quarter after missing the last two games with a sprained right ankle. … Smart left in the third quarter Saturday in a win at San Antonio after bumping knees with Zach Collins. Chicago, which had won three straight, lost DeMar DeRozan in the third quarter with a strained right quadriceps.

The Nets and Celtics had a chance to be perhaps the juiciest Eastern Conference game to date this season. Read more on Boston.com.

All over the floor, the Nets have targets for both Tatum and Brown to exploit. Those questions wouldn’t have been fully answered by Thursday’s game anyway given regular-season weirdness (the Celtics will be on the road playing the second end of a back-to-back, the Nets will be home after three days off), and Durant’s absence is a shame. The Nets have been the hottest team in the NBA over the last two months and have hurtled to the No. But Vaughn appears to have the Nets’ attention, and they are starting to put a lot of talented pieces together. A late playoff showdown between the two teams would be a dramatic, star-soaked affair. If the Nets enter the playoffs cohesive and healthy, they are much toothier than the team that got swept last year by the Celtics. The Celtics have the NBA’s best net rating for the year after their torrid start, but they have a net rating of 4.8 (6th in the NBA) over that same stretch. Interestingly, the Nets – who were once considered the NBA’s newest super team – are now the ones with something to prove against the Celtics after last year’s sweep. The early-season Celtics were essentially untouchable in the month of November, and glimpses of that team are often visible even though they have absorbed a few embarrassing losses since. The Celtics’ bench is deeper, and at its best, it spaces the floor better as well. 27, when the Nets’ run began following a loss to the Pacers, they have Shootarounds are very different from real practices, and if the Nets needed more guidance, Durant’s frustration is understandable.

Jayson Tatum led the way for the Celtics with 32 points, backed up by 20 points from Grant Williams and 19 from Jaylen Brown. The Bulls lost star DeMar DeRozan ...

It was far from an explosive run, but they clawed their way back within five points in the early minutes of the fourth quarter, aided by a lengthy scoreless streak from the Celtics’ offense. DeRozan remained in the game after the ensuing TV timeout and appeared to have avoided significant injury, but returned to the locker room shortly thereafter and was quickly ruled out for the evening with a right quad strain. A scary moment arose early in the third quarter, as DeRozan hit the floor while attempting to work against Al Horford off the dribble. But the Bulls played the Celtics as tough as they have all season, refusing to allow Boston to gain much distance for most of the half. Jayson Tatum led the way for the Celtics with 32 points, backed up by 20 points from Grant Williams and 19 from Jaylen Brown. That trend continued again tonight, but ultimately, the Celtics finished the season series against Chicago in a 2-2 tie with a 107-99 win.

Robert Williams III was back in the starting lineup for Marcus Smart, who was out for Monday's win over the Bulls.

The starters already have the built-in chemistry from this season, but Williams still needs to fold into a new system under a new coach. While the C’s are all about maintaining their league-best record, the priority still remains the postseason and a deep run. Williams got a hearty cheer from the TD Garden crowd when announced during pregame introductions, and it looked like he barely missed a step playing with the starters. The five-man group of Tatum, Smart, Williams, Al Horford and Jaylen Brown was a force defensively. Boston was one of the best teams in the league last season partly because Williams transformed the C’s defensively. [With each passing game Robert Williams III suited up for the Celtics](https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2023/01/its-time-for-joe-mazzulla-to-start-rob-williams-to-improve-celtics-defense-brian-robb.html) after knee surgery, he showed off his undeniable impact even in limited minutes.

The Boston Celtics will face the Brooklyn Nets later this week with the Eastern Conference's top spot potentially at stake.

Chicago star DeMar DeRozan had left with an injury and the C's proceeded to go up by as many as 16 behind a strong run from Jayson Tatum. But easy isn't how the ...

He was aggressive in finding his shot, and that seemed to open the game up for him. “Credit to Al, that’s a big-time shot that kind of sealed the game.” He hit the 3 thanks to a kind roll from the rim. – Rob Williams earned his first start of the season in place of Marcus Smart, who was out injured, and the results were encouraging. “A lot of pressure (he) takes off me, off all of us,” he added. The Celtics played with the right energy all night but continued poor 3-point shooting allowed the Bulls to hang around. He completed a three-point play, then drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to spur the Celtics on a 14-2 run as they built their largest lead at 16. But the Bulls – who beat the Celtics in two of their first three meetings this season – didn’t go quietly even without DeRozan. But with a few friendly bounces, the C’s found a way again and survived as they held off the Bulls for a 107-99 victory at TD Garden. Tatum scored 32 points, Grant Williams added a season-high 20 and the Celtics overcame another poor shooting night, going 11-for-41 from long range – which included an 0-for-8 effort from Jaylen Brown – as they hit the midway point of their season with an NBA-best 29-12 record. Chicago star DeMar DeRozan had left with an injury and the C’s proceeded to go up by as many as 16 behind a strong run from Jayson Tatum. Two nights later, it was more of the same.

It was one of the more important wins of the season because it earned zero style points. The Celtics missed 30 of their 41 3-pointers and allowed Zach ...

The Bulls are better than their record, especially against the Celtics, and were hardly daunted by the league’s top team. The Celtics’ early-season goal was to build enough equity to avoid having to make a historic second-half run as they did last season. They are a more mature team than last season, one that has learned from their humbling NBA Finals experience. The Bulls snapped the Nets’ 12-game winning streak, then followed up with a 14-point win that ended Philadelphia’s 11-game home winning streak. And they didn’t exactly end the road trip in dominating fashion by nipping the downtrodden Spurs. But as we’re learning this season, bad losses or unimpressive wins are part of the journey, even for elite teams. Maybe a few years ago Tatum takes on the entire Chicago defense, or at least feels like he has to, but this time he made the simple play. They are 29-12 this time around, keeping their promise that they would begin this season stronger, with more focus and less selfishness. “I thought this was one of our better wins, one of our complete wins because of our mindset and our toughness,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. The Celtics missed 30 of their 41 3-pointers and allowed Zach LaVine to score 15 fourth-quarter points as the Bulls sliced a 16-point deficit to two. The Celtics’ toughness has been questioned over the past few months, especially against bigger teams. Yet a team that has been guilty of taking opponents lightly or easing into games did neither Monday at TD Garden.

Al Horford has played a big role in the Celtics' success thus far despite some career lows.

[Romeo Langford](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/romeo-langford-z4KuwSKBLxhRGGyk/), Horford forces the former Celtics wing to give up the ball. With Horford and Williams on the court, the Celtics have already shown they can snap right back into the hard-hitting, defensive-minded mode that carried them to the finals last season. [NBA](https://theathletic.com/nba/) standings at this stage. [Celtics’](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/celtics/) win against the [Mavericks](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/mavericks/) on Thursday night. Boston has only played 38 minutes with him and Williams on the court so far this season but the defensive numbers over that time look sparkling. He thinks the game like a coach and sees the game like a guard. Robert Williams is guarding [Jeremy Sochan](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/jeremy-sochan-PeaTVw7ORtIZQpnv/) on the perimeter but effectively hands him right off to Horford. Will he grab the big offensive rebound deep in a playoff series? The Celtics’ defensive numbers have been just as dominant as ever when he has shared the court with Several other stats, such as his minuscule number of 2-point attempts, suggest he is not so much failing at producing near the rim as he is just declining to try it in the first place. [Luka Doncic](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/luka-doncic-gMyReUOesjAikT7S/) with 2:52 left in the second quarter of the Celtics’ 124-95 win, Horford earned his first free-throw attempts since Nov. Only 22 percent of his shot attempts have come from within four feet of the basket, which would represent a career low and in the eighth percentile among all big men this season, according to Cleaning the Glass.

Boston went big against Chicago, unleashing the Williams-Al Horford duo that stomped out opposing offenses last season.

The [Celtics](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/celtics/) escaped a fourth-quarter [Bulls](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/bulls/) comeback loaded with difficult shots. [NBA](https://theathletic.com/nba/) standings during his absence. That objective contributed to the length of time the team held out Williams at the beginning of the season. “Regardless of the result, on either end of the floor, we kept a certain body language and certain focus about us,” said Mazzulla. With [Marcus Smart](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/marcus-smart-dGLlEXUh7pIPWXUa/) out due to a left knee contusion, Mazzulla went back to the big frontcourt that helped give the Celtics a dominant defense last season. Tatum has played 42 percent of his minutes at power forward this season, according to Cleaning the Glass, but did not spend any time in that position against the Bulls. [Al Horford](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/al-horford-1bdxkLwov50QIyiQ/) drilled a game-sealing bucket from the corner. The Celtics can win without Williams. Williams waited for the right moment to contest Still, for the first time since Williams returned from a season-opening 29-game absence, the Celtics called on him in the starting frontcourt. Over the course of the game, the Bulls scored just 18 points while Williams and Horford shared the court. With Horford next to him, Williams can roam off the opponent’s least threatening perimeter player.

After back-to-back 3-pointers vs. the Chicago Bulls, Tatum passed the great John Havlicek (1,193 in 1971) for the most points scored by a Celtic in the ...

He's in the NBA MVP conversation as he entered Monday with a career-high 30.8 points per game on 47.2 percent shooting. Tatum is on the verge of a fourth consecutive All-Star selection. the Chicago Bulls, Tatum passed the great John Havlicek (1,193 in 1971) for the most points scored by a Celtic in the first half of a season, according to C's radio voice Sean Grande.

Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum put forth another dominant performance to lead the team to victory over the Chicago Bulls on Monday night.

Tatum has now scored 25 or more points in his last 12 games, with eight games of at least 30 points included in that stretch. Tatum's effort helped the Celtics outlast a late surge by Bulls star Zach LaVine, who scored 15 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter to keep things close. The three-time All-Star is playing at an elite level each time he takes the floor.

Rob Williams getting the start was a welcome change for the Celtics on Monday night.

Boston overcame a poor shooting night thanks to some impressive defense, earning a hard-fought win over the Bulls.

A poor three-point shooting night has been a sign of trouble all year long for the Celtics. After the contest, Tatum said that he’s “feeling great” with the way the Celtics are playing this year but wishes they could have some of the losses back. And so, regardless of the result on either end of the floor, we kept a certain body language and a certain focus about us. The win marked just the sixth time all season Boston has held an opponent to under 100 points. From the start of the year through December 7, they laid claim to a 119.9 offensive rating - the best in the league by a landslide. Head coach Joe Mazzulla called it “one of their better wins” of the year.

Jayson Tatum was the star of the show yet again as the Celtics held off the Chicago Bulls.

Jokic was a perfect five-for-five from the floor. "It's all about trusting your teammates," Tatum said of the pass to Horford as he himself was double-teamed. "That's a tough team," he said. So that's a big win." But the Bulls, with Zach LaVine scoring 15 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter, sliced the deficit to two points in the closing minutes. Jayson Tatum scored 32 points to help the Boston Celtics hold off the determined Chicago Bulls on Monday and reach the midway point of their NBA season with the best record in the league.

Boston venció a Chicago Bulls con un brillante Jayson Tatum, Memphis superó a San Antonio Spurs y Denver le ganó a Los Angeles Lakers.

Jamal Murray, que con 34 puntos sumó su mejor registro de la temporada, y Nikola Jokic, con un triple-doble muy efectivo (14 puntos, 11 rebotes y 16 asistencias con 5 de 5 en tiros de campo y 3 de 3 desde la línea de personal), fueron los mejores de los Nuggets. El español Santi Aldama firmó una estupenda actuación en los Grizzlies con 13 puntos (5 de 5 en tiros de campo, 2 de 2 desde la línea de personal), 3 rebotes y 2 robos en 18 minutos. Jayson Tatum (32 puntos, 8 rebotes y 7 asistencias) brilló en unos Celtics en los que el dominicano Al Horford consiguió 8 puntos, 7 rebotes y 5 asistencias en 33 minutos para frenar a unos Bulls que sumaban tres triunfos consecutivos.

The Boston Celtics are doing some impressive things this season. After making it all the way to the NBA Finals last season, Boston has responded in a major ...

Spurs: Boston Never Trails but Has to Fend Off San Antonio in Game That Goes Down to the Wire](https://www.si.com/nba/celtics/top-stories/heres-what-stood-out-in-the-celtics-win-vs-spurs-boston-never-trails-but-has-to-fend-off-san-antonio-in-game-that-goes-down-to-the-wire) [[Film Room] How the Celtics Limited Luka Doncic's Impact as a Scorer and Facilitator](https://www.si.com/nba/celtics/top-stories/film-room-how-the-celtics-limited-luka-doncics-impact-as-a-scorer-and-facilitator) The big man certainly has made his impact felt in just a short time. "I think he brought a level of joy to our team because of how unselfish he is and the type of plays that he's able to make on both ends of the floor. Williams has been slowly integrated back into the Boston lineup since returning and even in limited minutes has made a clear impact. What has made Boston's play even more impressive is the fact that there has been just a few games where the team was fully healthy. [Here's What Stood Out in the Celtics' Win vs.