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Chicago Bulls vs. Boston Celtics: 5 Takeaways from the Season Opener

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Here’s five takeaways from Thursday’s night season opener for the Chicago Bulls against Al Horford and the Boston Celtics.

The Chicago Bulls are 1-0 and the path to 82-0 has been laid down by the “Three Alphas”.

OK, so the Bulls probably aren’t winning every game they play, but behind their three core guys in the starting lineup, the Bulls were able to start the season off right with a 105-99 victory against the Boston Celtics in their season opener on Thursday night.

The biggest moment of the game came from Chicago’s own Dwyane Wade, who hit the dagger triple with just 26.3 left in the game to give the Bulls a 104-99 lead. It was Wade’s fourth make from deep on six attempts (!) on Thursday night, and it was the kind of play that folks will talk about until Saturday (when the Bulls take the floor again).

Contributions were at a premium for the Bulls on Thursday. Four players scored in double figures, led by Wade and Jimmy Butler (24 points), and the Bulls absolutely obliterated the C’s on the glass in their season-opening win.

With all of that being said, here’s five takeaways from the Bulls started out their 2016-17 campaign on the right foot, starting with those “Alphas”.

Oct 8, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Dwyane Wade (3) reacts during the second half against the Indiana Pacers at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

1. It was the best start you could ask for from the “Three Alphas”

All summer long, the question was whether or not the Chicago Bulls could make 3-point shots with their core based around Jimmy Butler, Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo as their three main options/ball-handlers.

So, of course … in typical National TV Bulls fashion, Rondo/Wade/Butler combined for nine makes from 3-point range on 14 attempts against the Celtics.

Nine. For. Fourteen.

Where in the world did that come from?

The biggest shot of the game was a triple from an Alpha, too.

Butler also hit a big triple before the first half horn sounded to give the Bulls a 57-49 halftime lead in a game that they only trailed for 11 seconds.

The Bulls needed every bit of the Rondo/Wade/Butler trio production. The bunch scored 50 of the Bulls’ 105 total points, grabbed 19 of the 55 total rebounds, and dished out 17 of the 25 total assists on Thursday night.

A little nugget: Wade/Butler had more offensive rebounds combined (5) than the Celtics did as a team (3).

Oct 27, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls forward Taj Gibson (22) defended by Boston Celtics center Al Horford (42) during the second half at the United Center. Chicago won 105-99. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

2. Taj Gibson was outstanding against the Celtics

Nikola Mirotic (29 minutes) played one more minute than Taj Gibson on Thursday night, and although Mirotic had some moments as the game went on, Gibson was superb from the opening tip.

In 28 minutes of action, Gibson scored 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting, pulled down 10 rebounds and had a plus-minus of +11 (trailing only Dwyane Wade for the best +/- on the night).

The Bulls jumped out to a 15-5 start in the first 4+ minutes of the ballgame and a lot of that had to do with Gibson, who started the first game of the year shooting 3-of-4 from the field for six points. Mirotic checked in for Gibson with 3:25 left in the first quarter, and it was pretty clear that Gibson’s presence was missing at the power forward position for the Bulls.

Mirotic wasn’t awful on Thursday. He shot 6-of-11 from the floor for 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds during his time in the lineup. The issues came when Mirotic was assigned to new Celtic Al Horford on defense and missing five of his six 3-point attempts. If Mirotic is going to stay on the floor throughout the year, those shots have to fall (although his defense did improve as the game went on in more favorable matchups for him).

But, without Gibson, the Bulls certainly don’t start the season at 1-0. He was great.

Oct 20, 2016; Omaha, NE, USA; Chicago Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg watches action against the Atlanta Hawks at CenturyLink Center Omaha. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports

3. Fred Hoiberg’s experimenting paid off on Thursday night

With 4:50 left in the first quarter, Doug McDermott won the sweepstakes as the first Bull off the bench this season. McDermott, who scored a quiet five points in 22 minutes on Thursday, entered the game for Dwyane Wade.

Wade would later come return to spell Rajon Rondo with 2:07 left in the first quarter. 13 seconds later, Isaiah Canaan would check in for Jimmy Butler, who played a team-high 37 minutes, with 1:54 left in the quarter.

What’s the trend here? Rondo (33 minutes), Wade (32 minutes) and Butler (37 minutes) were never on the bench all together on Thursday night.

Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg did a great job of not only keeping Wade in his 30-32 minute range that he mentioned before tip-off on Thursday, he made sure his core guys were all in the action, whether it was just one, two or all three “Alphas” on the floor.

Hoiberg started his second season off right and not only played the right matchups (Mirotic-Gibson as the main 4 and 5 in the “closing lineup” down the stretch), he kept his stars on the floor all night, but with a better sense of balance.

Oct 14, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls forward Paul Zipser (16) is congratulated for scoring by forward Bobby Portis (5) during the second half against the Cleveland Cavaliers at the United Center. Chicago won 118-108. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

4. Reserves: No Portis, Valentine, Zipser + bad minutes for Canaan

Bobby Portis, Denzel Valentine and Paul Zipser all were fatalities of the dreaded “DNP – Coach’s Decision” on Thursday night against the C’s. Jerian Grant was the lone inactive for the Bulls.

In just seven minutes, Isaiah Canaan took three shots — all from long range — and missed all three.

Valentine has practiced since rolling his ankle in the preseason opener against the Milwaukee Bucks at the beginning of October, but failed to see action in the season opener. Portis is still a major work-in-progress for the Bulls, specifically in trying to get him where he needs to be on the defensive end. Zipser is a rookie behind a lot of depth up front of the Bulls, so his DNP isn’t that surprising in the opening game of the year.

Cristiano Felicio only logged eight minutes of action, but Michael Carter-Williams made a nice impact in 17 minutes on the floor. Carter-Williams missed four of his six shot attempts, but he grabbed six rebounds and dished out three assists.

His best sequence of the game was a good one for the Bulls in the fourth quarter that pushed the Bulls lead out to 93-81 with 7:52 left that forced Celtics head coach Brad Stevens to take a timeout.

Carter-Williams drained a triple, then stole the ball away, brought the ball down the floor, and would finish off the possession for the Bulls with a tough bucket in the painted area.

Hoiberg also utilized Carter-Williams outside of being the lead guard for the Bulls, too. He started at point guard to start the fourth quarter, but also played off the ball with Rajon Rondo at times.

Oct 27, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Jimmy Butler (left) and center Robin Lopez (right) fight for a rebound against Boston Celtics center Al Horford (center) during the first half at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

5. The Bulls pounded the Celtics on the window

Sure, the outside shooting from the Bulls played a big difference in the win, but a huge reason why the Bulls pulled out the victory was their rebounding.

Earlier, I mentioned the Wade/Butler duo outrebounded the C’s on the offensive glass by themselves. The team difference was even worse.

The Bulls pulled down 18 — count ’em — 18 (!) offensive rebounds to Boston’s three. They pulled down 55 total rebounds on the night, compared to the Celtics’ 36 total boards. (The Bulls also had 18 second-chance points.)

No Bulls starter had less than six rebounds total (Gibson led the starters with 10), while the bench pulled down 18 total rebounds themselves. The C’s weren’t great from deep (8-for-23 on the night), but they shot 50 percent from the field on the night (38-for-76). The Bulls pulling down that many rebounds was huge for them in their season-opening win.

At one point late in the third quarter, the Celtics were 15-of-19 shooting in the paint. The Bulls needed every single one of those 55 rebounds.

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