(Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
The NBA In-Season Tournament quarterfinals are taking shape and the Boston Celtics are joining the party after they routed the Chicago Bulls 124-97.
The Celtics were clearly the superior team throughout the evening and the win gave them the edge over the Orlando Magic and Brooklyn Nets for the Group C crown.
For the Bulls, it marked their fifth consecutive loss which will surely prompt ownership and the front office to look even harder at selling off some of their key pieces.
Chicago is in desperate need of change and head coach Billy Donovan would certainly agree that it’s hard for him to do much with the roster currently on hand.
Donovan had to sit and watch his team get blown out by Boston, with perhaps the roughest part being Andre Drummond being forced to shoot free throws in the fourth quarter.
Donovan addressed the occurrence and admitted he wasn’t a fan of it via K.C. Johnson of NBC.
“I didn’t like that,” Donovan said.
Billy Donovan said Joe Mazzulla was receptive to Donovan questioning him about Hack-A-Drummond strategy. “I didn’t like that,” Donovan said
Donovan said he had no issue with Celtics playing starters late for point differential. He was trying to protect tough look for Drummond
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) November 29, 2023
Donovan added that he understands where Celtics head coach Joe Mazzula was coming from as they needed to try and run up the score for point differential purposes.
However, to Donovan’s point, it does put Drummond in an embarrassing situation where he has to try and shoot free throws in a blowout loss.
Drummond’s poor free throw shooting aside, though, Donovan’s got bigger problems on his hands as he tries to navigate what already looks like a lost season.
At this juncture of the year, the Bulls should be thinking of becoming sellers and kickstarting their rebuild as soon as possible.
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