Thomas carries Boston to 105-100 win over Chicago

“I don’t know what it is”, guard Jimmy Butler told the Bulls’ official website. Chicago has alternated wins and losses in each of its last four road contests (WLWL). The Bulls have not been consistent since their four-game winning streak was ended by the Golden State Warriors last November 20. It helped produce an encouraging start with the Bulls taking a 13-5 lead and better on the offensive boards. Chicago blew a 16-point fourth quarter lead in the 103-101 loss that dropped them to third in the Eastern Conference standings.

Despite a 34-point Jimmy Butler performance that included a 15-point fourth quarter, the Celtics escaped thanks to their balance.

There was nothing soft about the way they attacked the Celtics from the opening tip-off which allowed them to lead by as many as eight points in the first half.

After shooting 40.9 percent in a 110-91 loss to Orlando that opened a five-game road swing November 29, Boston (12-9) averaged 108.8 points and shot 47.4 percent while holding all but one opponent to fewer than 100 to complete a 3-2 trip.

But Thomas scored the next five points, the final three coming on a three-point play after he was fouled on a spinning drive down the lane with 2:23 to play. The Celtics surprised a lot of people last season when they made the playoffs but they came in this year with bigger expectations and are now starting to live up to them. Isaiah Thomas had 22 points, two rebounds, five assists and shooting 69 percent from the field with four 3-point shots made.

“He’s one of those guys that can go off for 10 or 12 in a couple of minutes”, teammate Kelly Olynyk told the Celtics’ official website.

Seventy-one teams have won 60 or more games in a season.

The Bulls fell to 11-8 on the season while the improving Celtics moved to 13-9. “We keep talking about it, yadda, yadda, yadda, but eventually we’re going to have to fix it or we’re going to keep finding ourselves on the losing end of ball games”.

Rose had a reasonably efficient game with 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting to go along with six assists, but he went 1-of-4 from the line and just didn’t make enough of an impact in his 37 minutes. “We have yet to find it this year”.

Thomas, who tallied 20-plus points in the last three games, is averaging career-highs 21 points and 6.3 assists per game this season, while the likes of Avery Bradley, who is shooting 46.8 percent and averaging 16.2 points per game and Jared Sullinger, who is averaging 9.2 rebounds per game, has been very good in support.

To see Boston pull away as it did was not expected considering how tightly the game was played through the first three quarters.