Boston Celtics close out series against the Chicago Bulls: 3 takeaways

The Boston Celtics are moving on to the second round after beating the Chicago Bulls,105-83.

The Celtics are moving on to the second round of the NBA playoffs after defeating the Chicago Bulls in Game 6. The Celtics played hard and deserved the win tonight. Meanwhile the Bulls looked lost on the floor and never really found their stride. The Celtics had full control over the Bulls for 48 straight minutes.

Takeaways

The Celtics played together: Whenever the Celtics play together, they win games. Isaiah Thomas wasn’t even the leading scorer tonight, it was Avery Bradley. Al Horford was the leader in assists tonight, not Thomas. Thomas played less minutes than Gerald Green tonight. Thomas wasn’t outstanding by any measure tonight, and that’s perfectly fine.

Isaiah shouldn’t have to go out and be superman every night. He should get the chance to sit on the bench and watch his teammates win the game. It’s healthy for the Celtics not to rely on Thomas because when he tasks a breather on the bench, the offense stops. If the Celtics can continue playing team basketball, they’ll be fine in the second round.

The Bulls need a floor spacer: Geez. That is the best word that we can use to describe Chicago’s 3-point shooting. It’s extremely unimpressive.

The Bulls shot 21.1 percent on 3-pointers in Game 6 tonight. That is not a shocking statistic, if you look at who is on their team. The only consistent 3-point shooter is Nikola Mirotic, but he has gone cold in the playoffs after a shaky regular season. Since the 3-point shooting was unavailable, the Bulls were left with one option: score in the paint. They weren’t able to manage that against Boston’s defense and the outcome was never in doubt.

If Chicago wants to succeed, they need shooters. Plain and simple.

Al Horford is finding his groove: It is about time too. Earlier in the series, Horford was shown up by Robin Lopez on multiple occasions. If you had never watched a game of basketball before you would have thought that Lopez was one of the best centers in the league. While he is decent, there’s no way he’s better than Al Horford, who showed everyone why in the last two games.

In Game 5, Horford flirted with a triple-double with his 24 points, 7 rebounds, and 9 assists. Tonight, Horford had 12 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists. He was doing everything for the Celtics and it was very fun to watch.

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Horford is back in playoff form and he’s ready for the next round. Bring on round two!