Jayson Tatum dominates the Chicago Bulls with a ridiculous triple-double, the Boston Celtics win 123-98

Two days after the Boston Celtics suffered their sixth loss of the NBA season against the Chicago Bulls, they took the court in Chicago with a chance for revenge. This time they left nothing on the table. The Celtics dominated Chicago and rode a strong third quarter to a comfortable victory over their Eastern Conference opponents, 123-98.

Jayson Tatum was the name of the game tonight, absolutely dominating the Bulls at every level. He led all scorers with 43 points on the night, shooting 16 of 24 from the field (9 of 15 from three) while recording a ridiculous triple-double, which he capped off with 16 rebounds and 10 assists. He became the second player in NBA history to go at least 40-15-10 with nine three-pointers (James Harden, 2016). Kristaps Porzingis scored an efficient 22 points and Jaylen Brown 19. Meanwhile, the Bulls struggled to create any offense, shooting 38% from the field and 33% from three-point range.

Things didn’t seem any easier for the Celtics tonight than they did in Thursday’s loss. After making 19 three-pointers last time out, the Bulls continued their hot outside shooting, hitting six high-volume three-pointers in the first quarter (13 attempts). Boston helped them further by struggling to overcome their own attempts from deep. They scored on just one of their first six attempts and finished the quarter shooting 3 of 10. However, Chicago shot poorly from beyond the arc and was rewarded with several missed dunks. The two teams were tied after one game, 28:28.

In the second quarter, the Bulls’ hot shooting began to cool down. They followed their early barrage with just three 3-pointers in the second frame, and alongside their continued struggles at the rim, they gradually lost their footing as time went on. With Tatum and Brown both working together – they combined for 31 points in the first half – the Celtics surged forward. At halftime they took the lead with 61:54.

The missing ingredient for the Celtics in the first half was three-point shooting. They opened the game with a cold spell that lasted for the rest of the half. However, when play resumed in the third quarter, they finally started to find some rhythm. Their lead stayed just under the 10-point threshold for most of the quarter, while their three-point percentage slowly gained some semblance of respectability.

However, the Celtics earned their bread within the arc. They continued to attack Chicago relentlessly around the stadium, putting up 48 points over the course of three quarters of the game. It started with a tremendous performance from Tatum, who scored 18 points before the start of the fourth quarter to reach 30 points for the game. Chicago had no answer to the onslaught, and Boston’s lead grew to a game-high 16 late in the quarter. The Celtics led 93-77 entering the final quarter.

The only drama left in the fourth quarter was whether Tatum would get the single assist he needed to complete his triple-double. He started the game on the bench, and the Celtics went on an 11-2 run to blow a 20-point lead over the Bulls, raising doubts about whether Tatum would even have a chance to return to the court to get. Tatum finally returned and put an exclamation point on his outstanding night – he picked up the assist to complete the triple-double, securing the first 40-15-10 game in Celtics history.

Next up, the Celtics travel to Orlando for a showdown with the injury-depleted Magic at 7:00 p.m. EST on NBC Sports Boston.