Celtics Beat Bulls, NBA Roundup

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Published on March 13 2017 6:43 am
Last Updated on March 13 2017 6:43 am

By ESPN

Thomas scored 22 points and later joined fans doing the wave as it circled TD Garden, leading the Boston Celtics to a 100-80 romp and sending the Bulls to their season-high fifth straight loss.

"That was fun. They just did it a little too long," Thomas said, breaking into a smile. "It's always nice when you've got a comfortable win and the fans get into it."

Thomas, the team's leading scorer at 29.2 points per game, played only 24 minutes and sat the entire final quarter. He had some fun in the final minutes of the blowout, taking part with teammate Jae Crowder in the crowd's cheer.

There were plenty of smiles to go around Boston's bench after they led the entire way. Avery Bradley didn't quite know if the Celtics were playing that good or Chicago was as poor as it looked.

"I asked our team that when I came out of the game," said Bradley, who scored 17 points. "I was like: `Are we playing defense that good?"

The Celtics rushed to a 13-0 lead, shutting out Chicago until Dwyane Wade's jumper nearly six minutes into the game.

Marcus Smart and Al Horford both added 12 points, and no Boston starter played more than 32 minutes.

Robin Lopez and Denzel Valentine paced the Bulls with 13 points apiece. Wade scored only eight points and Jimmy Butler had five.

"Nobody likes to lose, so, yeah, I definitely think it's bothering a lot of people," Butler said. "We've got to figure it out. Ain't nobody going to come in here and show us a blueprint on how to win. We've got to go out there and make it happen."

Coming off a 2/3 road trip, the Celtics never trailed. After missing their first 12 shots and starting 1 for 19, the Bulls finished with a season-low points in the first quarter and trailed 22-9.

Boston built its lead to 46-21 late in the first half on Bradley's driving basket. After Lopez opened the second half with a three-point play, the Celtics scored the next 10 points.

The Celtics were up by 19 points after three quarters and coasted to the victory, improving to 17-0 at home when they take a lead into the fourth period.

TIP-INS

Bulls: Their club record for fewest points in a quarter was six, doing it in 1993 and 2001. They were flirting with the mark after the miserable start until scoring five points late. ... Chicago had won two of the first three meetings against Boston, the last coming on Butler's two free throws with less than a second left on Feb. 16.

Celtics: Thomas hit his 200th 3-point shot in the opening quarter, becoming the third Celtics player all-time to reach that mark along with Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce. Walker owns the team record with 222, set in 2001-02. Pierce also did it the same season with 210, his only time reaching 200.

HIGHLIGHT BASKET

Jaylen Brown drove into the lane with two Bulls defenders around him and -- while in the air -- brought the ball around his back before shifting it from his right hand to left and flipping in a shot.


Pacers 102, Heat 98

Entering the final month of the regular season, Paul George and the Indiana Pacers find themselves in the thick of a tight playoff race.

Finding consistency over the final 16 games will be the difference between a postseason berth and a disappointing end to a season of high expectations.

On Sunday against Miami, Indiana got a much-needed home win over a Heat team that's been on a furious ascent up the Eastern Conference standings.

Paul George scored a team-high 28 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Pacers to a 102-98 home win Sunday over Miami, which had won 21 of its previous 25 games.

"We needed this win," George said. "We need all the wins we can get down the stretch."

The Pacers (34-32) retain their spot as the conference's sixth seed with the win, but the Heat (32-35) made Indiana earn Sunday's win.

With George struggling a bit in the fourth quarter, Jeff Teague and Myles Turner gave Indiana the edge late. Nursing a 97-96 lead with less than two minutes to go, Teague recorded a timely -- and unexpected -- block of Heat center Hassan Whiteside.

With Whiteside having one of his more complete games of the season, Teague swatted Whiteside from behind on a spin to the basket, leading to two free throws by Turner on Indiana's next possession.

Turner's foul shots put the Pacers up 99-96 with 1:38 to go, and Turner's dunk off his own miss on Indiana's next possession provided the Pacers the cushion they needed to fend off the Heat's late surge.

"It was a big play," George said of Turner's rebound-dunk. "He finished (the possession) strong and we needed that."

After falling behind 93-85 with 6:09 to go and having trailed for 3 1/2 quarters, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra called timeout. Miami (32-35) fought back and took the lead on Dion Waiters' jumper with 3:24 left.

Indiana answered with a 6-0 run to put the game out of reach and brought an end to Miami's four-game win streak.

Spoelstra was disappointed with the loss after seeing his team grab a late lead. He said the Heat will have to close games out better in the final month to get into the playoffs.

"Games like this are significant," Spoelstra said. "It's going to come with frustrations, anger, joy -- all of the above. That what we're looking forward to in the next month. Some games are going to come down to the last three minutes."

Turner finished with 15 points for Indiana. Teague had 12 points, five rebounds and four assists.

Whiteside led the Heat with 26 points and 21 rebounds. Waiters finished with 20 points and eight rebounds.

"We would have loved to come in here and steal this one," Whiteside said. "But sometimes things don't go your way."


Sunday, March 12 Scoreboard

Boston 100, Chicago 80

Brooklyn 120, New York 112

Indiana 102, Miami 98

Portland 110, Phoenix 101

Houston 117, Cleveland 112

Philadelphia 118,  Los Angeles Lakers 116


Monday, March 13 Schedule (All Times Central)

Chicago at Charlotte, 6 p.m.

Dallas at Toronto, 6:30 p.m.

Milwaukee at Memphis, 7 p.m.

Atlanta at San Antonio, 7 p.m.

Washington at Minnesota, 7 p.m.

Los Angeles Clippers at Utah, 8 p.m.

Orlando at Sacramento, 9:30 p.m.

Los Angeles Lakers at Denver, 9:30 p.m.