The Celtics knew they would have a tough challenge on their hands on Saturday night against the Bulls. Boston not only played big minutes in a double overtime win over the Nets on Friday night but arrived in Chicago at 3 a.m. local time Saturday morning for the back-to-back, just 16 hours before tipoff.
The setup against a rested Bulls squad that was riding a three-game losing streak would have been an understandable recipe for a letdown. Instead, Boston fought hard before a Kevin Huerter’s game-winning 3-point shot sunk their comeback hopes in the final second of regulation.
Instead of using a long list of excuses available after the defeat, Anfernee Simons pushed aside those obstacles in the disappointing loss.
“Obviously those things can play a factor, but we’re not going to give ourselves those types of excuses,” Simons told reporters in Chicago via NBC Sports Boston. “We knew we came here to win a game and we fully expected to win the game, no matter the cost, no matter what obstacles we had to go through before the game, the night before, it doesn’t even matter. We got to come together and win a ballgame and that’s the attitude we have, even before our meeting today.”
Simons did his best to help the Celtics achieve that goal, scoring 21 points in 29 minutes off the bench. Those contributions were critical as Boston’s backcourt starters shot a combined 9-of-28 from the field in the defeat. Simons was red-hot from 3-point range (5-of-11) but ended up sitting during crunch time despite Boston’s starters shooting woes. The move backfired. The Celtics only scored five points in the six minutes of regulation with Simons on the bench, and the Bulls escaped with the win.
Simons has only been with the Celtics for a few months now but his mentality is standing out on a team that is full of hard workers.
“We don’t care about any circumstances we had to deal with, we just wanted to come here and find a way to win,” Simons said.
The good news for Simons and the Celtics is that the road to winning should get easier for the next week as Boston hosts a four-game homestand against four teams with sub .500 records.