The NBA In-Season tournament got off to a great start for the Boston Celtics, who won their first two games of the inaugural festivities. It felt like a forgone conclusion that they'd advance to the knockout stage and eventually head to Vegas to play for the first-ever NBA Cup.
Then last Friday's game in Orlando happened, and suddenly the Celtics are in danger of having their first In-Season Tournament end in Group Play. Despite their 2-1 record against their fellow Group C teams, the C's 17-point loss to the Magic dropped their point differential to zero for tournament play. Both the Nets and the Magic are also 2-1, but have a better differential than Boston.
Although the Celtics began the day with the best record in the NBA, Boston needed a win and a huge scoring night to have a chance at reaching next week's quarterfinals.
The victory was enough for the Celtics to tie Orlando for the lead in the Eastern Conference Group C with a record of 3-1, but Boston needed points after entering Tuesday with a point differential — a key tiebreaker in the inaugural tournament — of zero.
DeMar DeRozan and Coby White led Chicago with 19 points apiece. Patrick Williams added 14 points and seven rebounds for the Bulls, who could not stop the Celtics' outside shooting.
Ayo Dosunmu added 10 points for the Bulls, who have lost eight of nine. Zach LaVine left with a sore right foot and did not return. He scored two points in just under 25 minutes.
Boston scored 38 points in the second quarter on its way to a 69-50 halftime lead. It continued to roll in the third. Tatum made a layup and a 3-pointer to help the Celtics increase their advantage to 78-55.
With the point differential in mind, Boston continued to push. Tatum missed a long jumper, but Sam Hauser was there to slam back the rebound for a 104-75 lead with 8:52 left in the game.
To land a wild card spot, the Celtics need to beat the Bulls and need victories from the Hornets, Bucks, and Hawks. The C's could also potentially advance with a loss, but they'd need the three aforementioned teams to win in blowout fashion. So that scenario, while possible, remains unlikely.
It pretty much boils down to the Celtics need to absolutely crush the Bulls and hope that the Nets win a close one against the Raptors. Otherwise, hopes of winning the first-ever NBA In Season tournament are over for the C's.
As a silver lining, we may only have to see that gross In-Season Tournament floor at the TD Garden one more time this season.
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