CHICAGO _ For a while, Saturday night's seesaw battle against the Bulls must have felt like a replay for the Celtics, who staged an 18-point comeback to beat the Hawks the night before then had to holding off the Bulls' fourth-quarter rally Saturday night in their 111-104 win.
In this case, the Bulls gave up a 10-point first-quarter lead before making their own rally from 16 down.
With 1 minute, 31 seconds left in the game, Zach LaVine's fast-break layup brought the Bulls within 105-101 eight minutes after they had trailed 93-77. Jayson Tatum had the answer for the Celtics, though, stepping back against Kris Dunn for a long 3-pointer that put his team up seven with a minute left.
LaVine led all players with 35 points. Lauri Markkanen scored 15 points for the Bulls and Thaddeus Young sparked the bench after a quiet first, scoring 11 of his 12 points after the break.
The Celtics' athletic wings were a problem for the Bulls. Tatum had 28 points on 12-of-15 shooting with seven rebounds. Gordon Hayward added 24 points while shooting 9 for 14, and Jaylen Brown put up 19 points and seven rebounds on a night when Kemba Walker sat out.
The Bulls shot 31.2% in the third quarter and 43% for the game, falling into the trap coach Jim Boylen said before the game he wanted to avoid. The Bulls (13-23) played even with the Celtics (25-8) except for the third quarter, when the Celtics outscored them 30-21.
"We have to limit our droughts, limit our stagnant plays and be more consistent offensively, especially in our second group."
