Celtics rally late, edge Bulls 114-112 on Williams’ FTs

Boston, Jan. 16 (BUS): Robert Williams hit two free throws with 9.7 seconds left, and the Boston Celtics scored the last eight points to defeat the Chicago Bulls 114-112 on Saturday night.

Williams, who tied 112 points with two fatal shots with 31 seconds left, scored 14 points and 13 rebounds. Boston went up after falling 112-106 with 1:57 to play.

“It’s a moment that everyone in this league wants and has been waiting for. I’m happy that I made them,” Williams, who was firing 66% of the foul streak entering the game, said. It boosted my confidence.”

Jason Tatum led the Celtics with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Jaylene Brown scored 19 points and Dennis Schroeder 16 points and eight assists for Boston, the Associated Press reported.

The Celtics, who lost 111-99 in Philadelphia on Friday night, won for the fourth time in five games. Coach Im Odoka said the team appeared to have learned from the mistakes that cost Boston earlier in the season.

“We’ve had a lot of tough matches like this and people are growing from it,” Odoka said. “To our men’s credit, they got off a bit and never hung their heads, kept fighting and made their way out of it.”

Nikola Vucevich scored 27 points for Chicago, and the rookie Ayo Dosunmo scored 21 points and added 10 assists. DeMar DeRozan, who missed a shot at the buzzer that could have restricted it, scored 23.

Chicago were coming off a 138-96 loss at home to Golden State on Friday night and lost for the fourth time in five games. The Bulls were unable to fend off the Celtics despite Boston’s numerous errors, who led 54-49 in the first half and 84-83 after a tight third quarter.

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“They came out and did a great job – it wasn’t great work after losing a game, but we competed,” Chicago coach Billy Donovan said. “Always how you respond. Today I thought we did a much better job controlling our response.”

The Celtics stumbled across their stretch with several fouls, including a poor pass by Tatum, a travel call to Brown and an offensive foul by Tatum. But Chicago couldn’t shut out the Celtics, who still had a chance after Brown hit a corner kick to lead the Celtics within 112-110 with 1:06 left to the left.

Malcolm Hill missed a shot for Chicago and Williams fouled the other end, tying it to a pair of free throws with 31 seconds left.

DeRozan missed the track with 11 seconds left and Boston got the rebound. Williams fouled Vucevic and went to the streak with 9.7 seconds left, both sinking to put the Celtics back in front.

HALFWAY POINT

The Bulls dropped to 27-14 but still held the lead in the Eastern Conference midway through their season. That’s a bit surprising, Donovan said, considering all his roster turnover in what his first half was a mess for everyone.

It’s hard for me to say. It can be hard to assess your team because you haven’t really seen your whole team play,” Donovan said.

Hint

Bulls: G Zach LaVine did not travel with the club after injuring his left knee early in Friday night’s game. Bowles said Saturday’s MRI revealed no significant structural damage and LaVine will be re-evaluated early next week. Although there is no timeline for his comeback, Bowles said LaVine was not expected to waste much time. Lavigne ruptured his ACL in the same knee while playing for Minnesota in February 2017. …Bulls was also without J. Lonzo Ball (a sore left knee). G Alex Caruso has remained on COVID-19 health and safety protocols.

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Celtics: Tatum scored 13 in the first quarter. …Marcus Smart (HSP) missed his third game in a row. … The Celtics improved 1-1 against Chicago this season and closed a three-game slither against the Bulls.

next one

Bulls: In Memphis on Monday afternoon.

Celtics: New Orleans hosts on Monday afternoon.

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