Celtics vs. Bulls: LIVE From The United Center

On Tuesday, I was able to see the Bulls play the Celtics. I was excited about the opportunity because of my love for the NBA and the sheer awesomeness of seeing it live. I was originally concerned about the Bulls' chances on this night as they had lost the previous night in Memphis. But I would soon see that the Bulls would do just fine at dispatching the struggling Celtics

I got to the arena right at tip-off. Upon taking my seats in the 300 level, I realized that I had forgotten how big the United Center. While I knew that the UC seats over 21,000 people, and I had been to a few Bulls games and several other events before, it was still a shock to see just how spacious the building was. Even after 18 years, the United Center is still one of the best arenas in the country.

I had come into the game worrying about how the Bulls would do against the Celtics. The Bulls just played the night before on the road and lost. That 80-71 decision against the Memphis Grizzlies was the lowest point total for Chicago in about six years. There was also the fact that the Bulls had lost to the Celtics at the UC earlier in the season. I figured it was going to be all bad.

However, I had not taken into account that the Celtics had lost the first two games of their three game road trip by an average decision of 102-89. The Celtics as a whole have been struggling so far this season, and I had the privilege to witness those struggles in realtime. Any fears I had of the Bulls losing went away when Chicago went on a modest run in the middle of the second quarter.

Coming into the game, all of the previews I came across (on NBA.com and on ESPN Radio 1000) highlighted the fact that the Bulls needed to stop Rondo. The Bulls did not do that, as he went on to lead all scorers with 26 points and 8 assists. However, he was one of the few bright spots for Boston. I noticed that Rondo would occasionally break out a behind-the-back pass, even when it didn't seem necessary. I guess he just did it because he could. Hey, why not?

The Bulls did quite a few things right to get this win: 1) the beat Boston in the post and 2) they were effective on offense. In terms of 1), Boston was out-rebounded 43-35, and out-rebounded defensively 31-24. The Bulls also out-blocked the Celtics 10-2. In terms of 2), six players were in double-figures for Chicago, including 21 for both Carlos Boozer and Luol Deng. Boozer had a double-double (21/10) and Joakim Noah had a triple-double (11/13/10). I didn't realize Noah had a triple-double until midway through the 4th quarter when he went to the bench for a little bit. I had only been noticing his negative aspects throughout the game; is issues with footwork at times, stagnating the offense when he would just stand there when he got the ball, and his three turnovers. However, when I saw he had a triple-double, his better moments began popping up in my mind. He was definitely a huge part of the team effort that lead to this Bulls win.

Another key part to the win was Nate Robinson, who came off the bench and scored 18 points. The way he was playing, however, I figured he had scored 50 before I saw the final box score. He made all five of the Bulls' threes and attempted all but two of their nine threes. He was all over the place out on the court and he was not afraid to shoot the basketball. That's exactly what the Bulls got him for.

The crowd was cool. For the most part, it was more subdued than I expected, but there were plenty of moments where people were excited and up on their feet. The loudest I heard everyone was during a timeout late in the game when they had the Donut Race. This is when they would have three different virtual Dunkin Donuts products race on the UC scoreboard and the product that won would earn a free prize for any fans that had them on a ticket that was handed to them at the front gate. Of course, there was free stuff on the line. Of course people got excited.

And speaking of free stuff, everyone in the arena earned free Big Macs because the Bulls reached 100 points.

Needless to say, I had a great time at the game, and the win made it even sweeter. I hope to get out to another game sooner rather than later, and hopefully the Bulls can keep up the winning momentum as they continue Life Without Derrick.