This was the Celtics’ first home game since Jim Loscutoff died. The team held a moment of silence before tip and the players wore black shoulder bands and green “LOSCY” warm-up shirts. And then, after the opening tip, a team of lunch-pail players went out and outworked the Bulls, from the starters all the way to the last guy off the bench, and that was probably an even more fitting tribute to Loscutoff the player than the shirts and the pregame recognition. That effort paid off, as the Celtics beat the Bulls 105-100.
The Celtics started off looking every bit like this was going to be an Admiral Akbar level trap game, or at the very least, a throwback to early in the season when the bench was left bailing out the starters on a regular basis.