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Bulls can't get offense clicking, blown out by Boston in Game 3

Game 3 of the Bulls-Celtics series was one of those "which came first" scenarios. Or "who wore it better?" Or another one of those questions that has no definitive answer.

Basically, the puzzle was whether the Bulls looked bad because they missed injured point guard Rajon Rondo, or the Celtics made the Bulls look bad, Rondo or not.

At the end of the night, Boston secured the victory it needed, beating the Bulls 104-87 at the United Center. The Bulls' lead in the series was cut to 2-1, with Game 4 back on their home court Sunday.

"We're not going to put this all on us missing Rondo, because if that's the case, we might as well not show up anymore because it looks like we'll be missing him for a while," Dwyane Wade said. "We've got to come out as a team and figure out how to be better defensively, all of us."

Rondo said the doctor told him he's looking at a two-week recovery, but he vowed to check on the injury's progress every couple of days to see if there's enough improvement to play. Rondo suffered a broken right thumb during Tuesday's Game 2 in Boston and watched Friday's contest while wearing a purplish suit from the bench.

A couple of glaring numbers stood out from the Bulls' perspective - 14 assists and 17 turnovers, which seems to suggest replacement point guard Jerian Grant and Michael Carter-Williams struggled. Rondo had 14 assists by himself in the Bulls' Game 2 victory in Boston.

At the same time, the Celtics started the game on fire, hitting 7 of their first 10 shots from 3-point range and eventually finishing 17-for-37 from behind the arc. Boston led 27-10 late in the first quarter.

"They came out and punched us in the face," Bulls center Robin Lopez said. They dictated the pace, especially in the first and third quarters. That put us at a big disadvantage."

Boston's lead eventually reached 37-17 early in the second quarter, but Wade and the Bulls reserves turned things around, going on a 17-4 run. Eventually, the Bulls trimmed the margin all the way to 44-41 by halftime.

Early in the third quarter, Jimmy Butler missed a shot that would have given the Bulls a 1-point lead. Boston responded with an Al Horford alley-oop dunk, then 2 straight 3-pointers by Isaiah Thomas pushed the lead up to 52-43. That's pretty much where it stayed, with a couple baskets tacked on. The Bulls trailed 56-43 heading into the fourth and never made a run.

"We can't look to replace what Rondo brings," Wade said. "His experience is unmatched. But just like every injury, every blow, it hurts the team in the moment, but we have to move past it and we have to figure out a way with our young point guards and the other guys on the roster to just be better next game."

Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg tried lineups with no point guard a couple of times, then had Grant and Carter-Williams on the floor together for a while. The Bulls' best stretch in the second quarter happened when Boston missed shots, the Bulls were able to push the pace and suddenly, they found an offensive rhythm. The Bulls couldn't recreate that success in the second half.

Wade led the Bulls with 18 points. Butler scored 14 points, but missed 12 of his first 13 shot attempts and never got to the foul line.

"I shot a lot of jump shots. When you do that, you normally don't get to the free-throw line," Butler said. "I like my shots. I'm OK with that. I feel I've had slow starts each and every one of these games, to tell you the truth. Missing shots. Kudos to them, great defense, yeah."

The Celtics clearly picked up the intensity on defense. The Bulls often seemed frustrated by the physicality of the game, but complaining didn't help and pushing back wasn't effective.

The Bulls finished with a 52-37 rebounding advantage, but that never seemed to be a major factor in this game. Lopez had trouble getting started and finished with 12 points. The Bulls couldn't hit 3-pointers either, going 6-for-21 and a couple of the makes came from Denzel Valentine and Cameron Payne in garbage time.

Boston had balanced scoring, with five players in double figures, led by Horford with 18. Five different Celtics hit at least 2 3-point baskets.

"We're in a good position," Wade said. "One thing Rondo helped us do before he went out is help us get two game on the road. Now we've got two of the next three on our home floor. We've got to come in and take care of business."

Get the latest Bulls news via Twitter by following @McGrawDHBulls.

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