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'Three Alphas' lead Chicago Bulls to season-opening win

By Brian Hedger, The Sports Xchange
Chicago Bulls' Rajon Rondo, Jimmy Butler, and Dwyane Wade. (Dwyane Wade/Instagram)
Chicago Bulls' Rajon Rondo, Jimmy Butler, and Dwyane Wade. (Dwyane Wade/Instagram)

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Bulls didn't shoot very well, but they opened the season with a 105-99 victory over the Boston Celtics on Thursday night thanks to rebounding and the "Three Alphas."

The Bulls outrebounded the Celtics 55-39, giving them 16 more shots, and the big three of Dwyane Wade (22 points), Jimmy Butler (24 points) and Rajon Rondo (four points, nine assists) led the way to victory at the United Center.

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"It's been a big theme of practice, physicality, playing with toughness and not getting outworked," Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said. "I think it was evident on the glass, when you outrebound a good rebounding team by 19. That was the difference in the game right there."

Wade, who is from Chicago's south suburbs, hit 4 of 6 from the 3-point arc in his first game with his hometown team. He hit just seven 3-pointers all of last season for the Miami Heat.

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Wade's last trey, a fadeaway from the wing, put the Celtics away. The shot came with guard Avery Bradley in his face, and the Bulls ahead 101-99 and 26.3 seconds left in the fourth quarter. After hitting it to put Chicago up by five points, Wade celebrated the capper of a storybook night.

"When I released it, I'm not going to say I knew it was going in, because anything could happen, but I felt very good about the shot, and there was just a lot of emotion running through me," Wade said. "I had an out-of-body experience after that."

Chicago got key contributions from outside of their top three guys, as well.

Power forward Taj Gibson had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Nikola Mirotic had 15 points off the bench.

Guard Isaiah Thomas led Boston with 25 points, while Bradley had 16 points, Jae Crowder added 14 and Al Horford finished with 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists. The Celtics played their second game in as many days after defeating the Brooklyn Nets 122-117 Wednesday in Boston.

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"We got beat on the glass bad," Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. "They also got (16) more shots than us. We only had 11 turnovers, so it shows that (rebounding) is the No. 1 thing that we need to get better at."

The Bulls shot just 39.1 percent from the floor (36 of 92), but hit 11 of 25 from 3-point range (44 percent) and got 18 second-chance points of an 18-3 advantage in offensive rebounding.

The Celtics hit half of their 76 field-goal attempts, including 8 of 23 3-point tries.

In the fourth, the Bulls carved out a 95-81 lead with a 9-0 run that was capped by Butler's layup off a strong drive. Boston responded with a 9-0 run to make it 95-90 on a runner by Thomas with 4:32 left, setting up an exciting finish.

The Celtics also outscored the Bulls 20-11 in the first 7:37 of the third to take their first lead 69-68 on a 3-pointer by Thomas, but Chicago responded with a 7-0 spurt to retake the lead.

Gibson hit a floater, Butler drilled a 3-pointer and Mirotic hit a jump shot. Mirotic also drained a 3-pointer with 51.1 seconds left in the third for a 79-73 lead starting the fourth.

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The Bulls led 57-49 at the half after getting a combined 28 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists and two steals from Wade, Butler and Rondo.

Wade had 14 of those points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field, including 3 of 4 from behind the 3-point arc, and Butler had 11 points at the half. Butler also hit all three of the 3-pointers he took before halftime, including one right before the horn to end the second quarter.

"Their (top) three guys were like 9 of 14," Stevens said. "Wade is not known for his 3-point shooting, but they hit their shots tonight."

NOTES: The Bulls announced the signing of free agent G R.J Hunter, who was the Celtics' final cut. Hunter attended Chicago's morning shoot-around Thursday and the game against Boston, but he didn't play. Boston coach Brad Stevens said Hunter could be a good fit with the Bulls, who could use an extra threat from the 3-point arc. ... Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said rookie G Denzel Valentine (ankle) is ready to play and has no limitations. Valentine sat out Thursday. ... Stevens isn't contemplating many changes to the playing rotation he used in Boston's first two games, with Gerald Green and Jonas Jerebko as the eighth and ninth men off the bench. Boston is without F Kelly Olynyk (shoulder rehab) and G Marcus Smart (ankle) to start the season. "I felt pretty good about those rotations," Stevens said. "Until our (injured) guys get back, there will be similar rotations."

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