BOSTON — There have been flashes of good play from this new group of Bulls, moments where the front office could say, ‘‘OK, we have something here.’’
There just haven’t been a lot of them.
And there were even fewer Monday night.
Similar to what happened in the season opener Wednesday in Toronto, the young Bulls (1-3) simply couldn’t compete for more than a few minutes here and there with the established Celtics, ultimately falling 134-99 in a game that was well out of hand by the third quarter, when a halftime deficit of 12 points grew to a laughable 30. The Celtics outscored the Bulls 39-21 in the quarter behind 19 points from sharpshooter Payton Pritchard.
The damage didn’t only come from the outside. The Celtics also outscored the Bulls 46-30 in the paint and outrebounded them 54-40, including 19 offensive boards.
That’s what irked coach Tiago Splitter the most, among a list of disappointments.
‘‘We knew that was a very good team shooting the three-ball, but when you give them second and third chances, it’s impossible,’’ Splitter said. ‘‘The biggest reason [for the loss] is we’ve got to rebound the ball better. We’ve got to take care of the ball and shoot the ball better, as well.’’
The defense, including the rebounding, was expected to be better this season.
‘‘We can be really good defensively,’’ forward Matas Buzelis said. ‘‘Just thinking, me, Caleb [Wilson], [Jalen Smith], [Nic] Claxton, Lenny [Miller] — we’re all really athletic, long, so we have all the tools. It’s just the process of getting that understanding of what position we’re in, how to attack the offense, how to get back. . . . It’s like telepathic, honestly. Sometimes you can’t explain basketball. Something happens, and you know where to be at.
‘‘Like, I knew last year I could be really, really aggressive being low man with Isaac [Okoro] because he would scramble, so you knew where to go. So it takes some time.’’
The Bulls could have used a certain 6-11 big man to help deal with the Celtics’ Mitchell Robinson and Neemias Queta. Claxton, who’s out with a strained left hamstring, continues to move closer to a return.
‘‘He’s getting better,’’ Splitter said. ‘‘[On Monday morning], he did a good workout on the court, not with the team yet. We’re looking to increase those practice, individual workouts at the start of next week and hopefully get him with the group soon.’’
The Celtics were the latest opponent to exploit the Bulls’ lack of size, beating them up 30-19 on the glass in the first half. That was coming off the Bulls’ loss to the Wizards on Saturday in which they were outrebounded 48-44.
Miller, a forward in his fourth NBA season, has proved to be an efficient scorer overall, but the Bulls think there’s an entirely different gear for him in becoming a better three-point shooter. He has a hitch in his shot that the coaching staff is working on making a bit smoother.
‘‘It’s not something that is easy to change, especially when you have that habit,’’ Splitter said. ‘‘But [we’re] just trying to get smoother and make him feel comfortable. At the end of the day, you’ve got to make shots. It doesn’t matter how it looks, right? We’re putting a lot of effort into all the guys and shooting. It’s part of the development with this team that everybody becomes a better shooter.’’
Miller is shooting 25% from three-point range this season after shooting 35.6% in 27 games with the Bulls last season.
