3 takeaways from the Chicago Bulls’ 123-119 road loss against the Boston Celtics

DeMar DeRozan torched the Boston Celtics for 46 points and Nikola Vucevic added 24 points and 12 rebounds, but the Chicago Bulls lost 123-119 on the road.

The Bulls had a 31-26 lead at the end of the first quarter, but the Celtics hung around and eventually took control of the game. Here are three key takeaways from the Bulls’ fifth loss of the season.

The Bulls had no answer for Jayson Tatum and Malcolm Brogdon

The Bulls held the Celtics to 9-of-31 (29 percent) from three-point range, but five Boston players scored in double-figures, led by Jayson Tatum with 36 points and 25 points off the bench from Malcolm Brogdon.

The X-factor for the Celtics was Brogdon, who outscored the Bulls’ reserves by himself. Boston’s balanced offense made a difference. Jaylen Brown also stepped up with 16 points and five rebounds and Marcus Smart added 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting.

The bench mob didn’t show up

Bench scoring has been the Bulls’ strong suit to start the season, but the reserves were nowhere to be found in this game.

The four Bulls’ reserves combined for 15 points on 3-of-9 from beyond the arc.

The Bulls desperately need Coby White and Andre Drummond back; it’s hard to beat a team like the Celtics when you only have four reserves and all of them struggle on the same night. The Boston reserves, on the other hand, had 41 points.

The Bulls lacked aggressiveness

Just DeRozan and Zach LaVine shot free throws. DeRozan attempted 22 of the Bulls’ 25 shots at the charity stripe. You can’t win many games like this.

The Bulls only had 21 assists on 43 field goals, and they were able to be in this game because they shot the ball well and DeRozan had a monster game.

Patrick Williams was playing well lately, but he had an off game with just seven points and five rebounds on 3-of-9 shooting and 1-of-4 from beyond the arc.