On Thursday night, the defending champion Boston Celtics lost to the Chicago Bulls at home in TD Garden, 117-108, which was quite the surprise.

What was rare this season was that Boston struggled shooting against another strong 3-point squad. The Celtics’ talent helped the club get within three points of Chicago late in the fourth quarter of the contest. Then two technical fouls against head coach Joe Mazzulla and three-time All-Star Celtics small forward Jaylen Brown derailed the club’s comeback.

“He questioned our integrity multiple times during the same sequence,” league official Tony Brothers said during the postgame pool report.

According to Jay King of The Athletic, Boston starter Kristaps Porzingis explained how that moment contributed to the team’s fourth home loss of the season.

“That wasn’t exactly our best moment,” said Porzingis. “We had to keep our cool because the game was still there (to win).”

The loss leaves Boston with a still-great record of 21-6 on the season, good for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference, just two games behind the Cleveland Cavaliers (23-4). The Bulls are now on a three-game winning streak and have a record of 13-15, making them the No. 9 seed in the East – tied with the No. 8 seed Indiana Pacers.

In the loss, Porzingis scored 20 points on 7 of 17 shooting from the field (2 of 7 from distance) and 4 of 4 shooting from the charity stripe, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked three shots over 36 minutes. Five-time All-Star Celtics power forward Jayson Tatum led Boston with 31 points on 10 of 22 shooting from the floor (4 of 11 from distance) and 7 of 9 foul line shooting, 10 rebounds and four assists a pair of steals.

Two-time All-Star Bulls small forward Zach LaVine led the way for Chicago, scoring 36 points on an efficient 11-of-19 shooting (6-of-11 from deep) and 8-of-9 from the foul line. along with six rebounds and four assists. Two-time All-Star Bulls center Nikola Vucevic, another veteran trade chip on the club’s roster, posted a double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds against Porzingis.

Boston lost just its fourth home game of the season, but remains solid at 11-4 at TD Garden and 10-2 on the road.

Luckily for the Celtics, Boston has another opportunity to immediately put things right against Chicago. They’re playing at the United Center tomorrow, which has just become must-see television.

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