The Celtics headed into game five hoping to win their first home game of the playoffs. The Bulls came into the game looking to win their third game in Boston of the series.
The Celtics came out firing to no avail, missing 11 of their first 13 shot attempts. They also missed their first eight three-point attempts, but then connected on their next three of them to close the half. Boston led 23-20 after the first quarter despite shooting 36.4 percent.
Fred Hoiberg reached deep into his bench in the early second quarter, subbing in sharpshooting veteran Anthony Morrow, who had played just four minutes in the series entering game five. Morrow scored eight points in the quarter.
At the half, the Celtics led 52-50 despite Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder combining to shoot 2-12 from the field. Avery Bradley, with 17 points and four rebounds on 8-13 shooting, led Boston in the first half. Kelly Olynyk also had an excellent half, chipping in 11 points on 4-7 shooting off the bench.
Dwyane Wade led the Bulls with 11 points but shot just 3-9 from the field. He was the Bulls’ plus-minus lead (plus-8), though. He did have this embarrassing defensive possession, though:
The Celtics shot just 6-25 (24 percent) from deep in the first half, while the Bulls shot 4-9 from that range. The Bulls struggled taking care of the ball in the first, as evidenced by their 13:10 assist-to-turnover ratio. For comparison, the Celtics’ ratio was 15:4.
Robin Lopez started strong in the second half, scoring the Bulls’ first six points on 3-3 shooting. Until this shot, that is:
Robin Lopez with the floater….
CASH….or… #Shaqtin
(via @clippittv)pic.twitter.com/ji4AFBCHk6
— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) April 27, 2017
The Bulls and Celtics went back and forth in the third quarter, taking turns holding the lead. Jimmy Butler knocked down this tough, deep trey at the buzzer to put the Bulls ahead 81-79:
Jimmy Butler splashes the buzzer-beating 3 to end the 3rd quarter!#BullsNation
(via @clippittv)pic.twitter.com/fyiPwLItJY
— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) April 27, 2017
The fourth quarter was all Boston as the Celtics gained momentum, fueled by the roaring crowd. They used a 13-0 run to take a 15-point lead with 4:20 left in the game. The Celtics shot a lot of free throws, which worked to their advantage; Boston shot a perfect 23-23 from the line in the game.
After this questionable no-call on Crowder, Lopez got a little upset:
Jae Crowder trying to break out the figure four leg lock on Robin Lopezpic.twitter.com/TH8l8fsmds
— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) April 27, 2017
Lopez received a technical foul for his reaction:
And Robin Lopez was a little upset…got a techpic.twitter.com/AWR5DCij5j
— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) April 27, 2017
Dwyane Wade scored six straight points to try to pull the Bulls back into the game, but it wasn’t enough. The Celtics pulled out the victory 108-97 for their third consecutive win.
Dwyane Wade led the game in points (26) and rebounds (11), and fell two assists short of his first career triple-double. Jimmy Butler finished with 14 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Butler failed to score in the fourth quarter. Isaiah Canaan had a strong game as a starter, scoring 13 points on 6-11 shooting.
Bradley led Boston in scoring with 24 points. Horford had 21 points, seven rebounds and nine assists with just one turnover. Thomas shot just 1-10 from deep, while Crowder was 2-11 from the floor. Despite Boston’s shooting struggles, the Bulls were unable to capitalize, which is a great sign for the Celtics going forward.
The Celtics now hold a 3-2 series lead and will play game 6 in Chicago on Friday.
