The Chicago Bulls were sorely missing backup big men Jalen Smith and Zach Collins on the road against the Boston Celtics for a Monday night tilt. Billy Donovan was so desperate for frontcourt size that he brought in rookie two-way signing Lachlan Olbrich for 11:39 and played Julian Phillips 13:14.
Despite the return of Coby White on a minutes restriction off the bench, Chicago’s offense felt largely disjointed in TD Garden. The Celtics led by as many as 23 points, although some chippy fourth-quarter offense from Matas Buzelis and Nikola Vucevic almost got the Bulls back into single digits late. Almost.
Ultimately, the Bulls fell, 115-101, dropping to a 17-19 record on the season. Beyond the missing bigs (more on them later), Chicago clearly could use Josh Giddey’s passing gifts.
Final from Boston. pic.twitter.com/cb5mbPWSF3
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) January 6, 2026First Half: No One Can Buy A Bucket
The Bulls started things off with a whimper. Chicago logged its lowest-scoring first quarter since April 2024, per the game’s Chicago Sports Network broadcast. Boston led, 31-14, heading into the second period.
A steady, pass-happy Celtics effort helped the 2024 champs pull away to a 21-point edge, 54-33, at the halftime break.
Payton Pritchard led Boston with 10 points on 4-of-10 shooting. No other Celtics players were in double figures. Of the 11 Chicago players who saw action in the first half, four were held scoreless — including Coby White, who came off the bench in his first game back since reaggravating his right calf last Monday. Nikola Vucevic, uncharacteristically, also had nada in the opening half.
The Celtics outscored the Bulls 22-12 in the paint in the half, and notched a whopping 15 points off Chicago’s six turnovers to the Bulls’ six points off three Boston turnovers. Boston also pulled down almost as many offensive rebounds (22) as the Bulls had total rebounds (24) — while grabbing 41 boards overall in the half.
Chicago Bulls Player of the Half: Matas Buzelis with a team-high… nine points. Let’s just move on.
Bob DeChiara-Imagn ImagesSecond Half: Bulls’ Vucevic Steps Up — Unfortunately, So Does Celtics’ Anfernee Simons
Neither team could buy a bucket in the first half. But things turned in the Celtics’ favor during the final two quarters — specifically, for one Boston backup.
After dropping 50 against the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday, Jaylen Brown played incredibly poorly, but it didn’t matter one iota, as the rest of his team stepped up in a big way even as he struggled to shoot.
Neemias Queta feasted without Smith or Collins, recording a 13-point, 13-rebound double-double on 66.7 percent shooting, while Payton Pritchard scored 21 points, Derrick White chipped in 10, and Brown had 14.
But the star of the show was a Celtics reserve. Guard Anfernee Simons, who, like White and Vucevic, didn’t score in the first half (he went 0-for-3 from the field), poured in a game-leading 27 points on 9-of-13 field goal shooting, while connecting on a season-high 8-of-11 shooting from 3-point land.
Simons’ seventh three put Boston up by 20 after some frisky Bulls scoring midway through the frame. The Celtics threatened to run away with the game for good there.
However, a 14-3 Chicago run capped by a Matas Buzelis corner trey and a Nikola Vucevic take brought the Bulls within 10 points, 106-96, with a hair over three minutes remaining in the game.
It wouldn’t last, though, and Billy Donovan surrendered at the 1:23 mark. Chicago took the L, 115-101.
Vucevic, to his credit, enjoyed a strong second half. All told, he finished with 15 points, 15 rebounds, and seven assists.
White looked rusty in his 25 minutes, scoring just five points on 2-of-7 shooting. Although Kevin Huerter drew the temporary start next to Tre Jones with Giddey shelved, Ayo Dosunmu submitted another strong showing. Dosunmu played eight more minutes that Huerter off the bench, chipping in 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field (3-of-7 from distance) and five assists, while playing competent perimeter defense.
The Bulls fell back into some bad habits, lackluster cutting, limited off-ball movement, and minimal penetration into the post compared to what they’ve achieved when their offense is humming with Josh Giddey at the helm.
Chicago Bulls MVP of the Night: Matas Buzelis with 26 points (12 in the paint) on 9-of-12 shooting from the floor (3-of-4 from distance) and 5-of-6 shooting from the field, three rebounds, two assists, and a block. It was just his fifth career game with 25 or more points.
Matas Buzelis tonight vs. Celtics:9-12 FG26 PTS3-4 3P5th-best scoring effort of his career pic.twitter.com/G9uoD7cc8l
— Bulls on CHSN (@CHSN_Bulls) January 6, 2026Numbers To Remember:
The broadcast noted that Chicago’s 119 games missed due to injury rank eighth league-wide. The Indiana Pacers top the list with a whopping 207 contests. This is worth monitoring for the inevitable Arturas Karnisovas end-of-year presser, where he’ll invariably blame the Bulls’ 39-43 finish on health. The Bulls couldn’t run the Celtics off the 3-point line. Boston made 38.5 percent of its 52 triples, while Chicago connected on a more pedestrian 34.8 percent of its 46 heaves from deep. Per Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times, Buzelis has now dropped 15 or more points across four consecutive contests (all without Giddey) for the first time in his career. He also has been pacing all 2024 draftees in cumulative scoring since Dec. 1, with 269 points.Matas Buzelis (16 pts so far at BOS) has extended his streak of 15+ points to a career-long 4-straight games (12/31-1/5). Since Dec. 1, Buzelis leads all 2nd-year players in total points (269) and ranks 2nd in total blocks (20), via Bulls PR!
— Joe Cowley (@JCowleyHoops) January 6, 2026 Offensive rebounding was a huge part of Boston’s success. The Celtics walloped the Bulls in offensive rebounds, 20-6. That in part helps explain Boston’s massive edge in field goal tries, 104-86. All those extra offensive rebounds helped Boston also pace Chicago in second chance points by double digits, 26-12. This is the kind of thing that happens without Jalen Smith or Zach Collins playing around the post, and Nikola Vucevic disengaged for a half. In another trickle-down impact from the absence of Smith and Collins, Boston also enjoyed a huge advantage in rebounds (64-49). Beyond Queta, Brown grabbed eight boards, and exciting rookie Hugo Gonzalez pulled down seven rebounds in just 12 minutes. With the win — its fourth straight — Boston has passed the New York Knicks to claim the 2nd seed in the East at 23-12. The 17-19 Bulls, meanwhile, are just a game ahead of the 10th and 11th seeds (the Atlanta Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks).Hence then, the article about bulls waste great buzelis game coby white s return in 115 101 loss to celtics january 5 2026 was published today ( ) and is available on Bleacher Nation ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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