CHICAGO -- The Chicago Bulls are becoming an offensive juggernaut, but they are quick to credit their defense for a season-high, six-game winning streak and rapid rise up the NBA's scoring rankings.

Once again, the Bulls created an offensive surge by playing better defense in a 101-92 victory against the Boston Celtics on Thursday night at the United Center.

Trailing 43-33 late in the second quarter, Chicago outscored Boston 15-4 in the final four minutes to grab a 48-47 halftime lead and roll to a comfortable win.

"That's what really won us the game," shooting guard Jimmy Butler said of the Bulls' defensive uptick. "We were out there guarding, we rebounded, and we got a lot of easy baskets. When we're playing like that, we look really good out there."

Butler and center Pau Gasol each had double-doubles to lead the Bulls (22-12), who had six players score in double figures -- including all five starters. Butler had 19 points and 10 assists, while Gasol totaled 17 points and 18 rebounds for his 19th double-double this season.

The Celtics (19-17) were coached by assistant Jay Larranaga while head coach Brad Stevens visited Andrew Smith, a former player of his from Butler University who is hospitalized in Indiana with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Larranaga, 40, got his first taste of running an NBA bench after joining the Celtics in 2012 as an assistant.

"Brad always says that the focus is to win the next game, one possession at a time, and that's really how I approached it," said Larranaga, the son of University of Miami men's basketball coach Jim Larranaga. "I was obviously thinking about Brad and wanting to represent him well and our players ... wanting to do right by them."

They did right by him with their overall effort. Seven Celtics players finished with double-digit points, including all five starters. Forward Jae Crowder (17 points) and center Kelly Olynyk (16 points) led the way for Boston, which has dropped its past two games and four of the past five.

Chicago got additional double-digit scoring from point guard Derrick Rose (18 points), forward Nikola Mirotic (11 points), power forward Taj Gibson (10 points) and reserve guard Tony Snell (10 points).

Now that they are pushing the pace the way coach Fred Hoiberg prefers, the Bulls are starting to feel they can beat any team in NBA. All six of their wins in the streak have come against Eastern Conference opponents, and Chicago improved to 13-8 against the East.

"(Defense) is a difference-maker for us," Gasol said. "Offensively, we're going to be fine, because have a lot of talent and a lot of weapons. It's when we play defensively the way we need to, when we communicate and get into people, when we box out, when we help each other out ... then we can beat anybody."

Guard Isaiah Thomas (14 points), center Jared Sullinger (13 points), forward Amir Johnson (12 points), guard Evan Turner (10 points) and guard Marcus Smart (10 points) also reached double figures for the Celtics.

The Bulls, who came into the game ranked ninth in the NBA with an average of 102.2 points a game, scored 100-plus points in their ninth straight outing.

Boston used an early 12-3 run to spark a 27-21 lead after the first and led for most of the second quarter. It didn't hold up, as the Bulls turned up the heat defensively to seize the lead by halftime and keep going.

"They had a big second quarter," Crowder said. "Things kind of changed at that point. After the half, we came back a little sluggish and then couldn't get it back until the fourth quarter, which was a little too late."

NOTES: Bulls F Mike Dunleavy (back) missed his 34th game. He has yet to play this season. ... Bulls C Joakim Noah missed his eighth game with a left shoulder sprain and ninth game of the season. Chicago coach Fred Hoiberg said Noah needs to experience contact in practice before returning, and could do that soon. ... Celtics G Avery Bradley missed his third straight game because of a sore left hip.