The Chicago Bulls host the Boston Celtics for the third of 4 games this season. They met in Chicago for the 4th and final group play game for the Emirates NBA Cup on November 29. They played in Boston just 2 days ago on Thursday and the Bulls won that game 117-108. Their final meeting will be in Boston on January 29. The Celtics swept the series 3-0 last season, winning 2 in Chicago and one in Boston.
These two teams played each other just 2 days ago on Thursday in Boston. The Bulls are 3-7 in their last 10 games against the Celtics. The Celtics are 134-110 overall all time against the Bulls and they are 57-71 all time against the Bulls in games played in Chicago. The Celtics are about to enter a tough stretch of games. After playing just 2 games in 11 days, they will now play in 11 games over the next 20 days and 29 games over the next 56 days before the All Star Break.
The Celtics are 2nd in the East, 2.5 games behind first place Cleveland and they are 4 games ahead of 3rd place New York. They are are 10-2 on the road and they are 7-3 in their last 10 games. They are 19-4 against Eastern Conference teams and are coming off a loss to the Bulls on Thursday. The Bulls are 9th in the East, 11 games out of first place and 1 game behind 7th place Atlanta. They are 4-9 at home and have played better on the road than they have at home. They are 6-4 in their last 10 games. They are 11-8 against Eastern Conference teams and have won their last 3 games.
The Celtics and Bulls are playing their second straight game against each other.. They played in Boston on Thursday and now, in Chicago, in this game. The Celtics then travel to Orlando for a game before another 4 game home stand where they host Philadelphia, Indiana twice, and Toronto. Then it’s a 4 game Western road trip through Minnesota, Houston, Oklahoma City and Denver before facing Sacramento and New Orleans back at home.
The Bulls also start with the home and home set against the Celtics playing this game in Chicago after Thursday’s game in Boston. They then face Milwaukee at home followed by Atlanta on the road. Then it’s back home for another game against Milwaukee before playing at Charlotte and at Washington. Then it’s back home for games against the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs.
After missing Sunday’s game, Al Horford returned to play on Thursday. Kristaps Porzingis left Sunday’s game with a heel injury and also was available and played on Thursday. At this time, neither is on the injury report. Sam Hauser missed 2 of the last 3 games with lower back spasms. He is questionable for this game and will be a game time decision. Xavier Tillman missed Thursday’s game with an illness but is not on the injury report at this time.
For the Bulls, Zach LaVine missed Monday’s game with back soreness but was available to play on Thursday against the Celtics. Josh Giddey left Monday’s game with an ankle injury. Although the injury isn’t considered to be serious, he missed Thursday’s game and is questionable for this game. Dalen Terry was a limited participant in Wednesday’s practice and missed Thursday’s game with a bruised right knee. He is questionable for this game. Torrey Craig is a late addition to the injury list with an Achilles injury. Giddey, Craig, and Terry will all be a game time decision.
Probable Celtics Starters
Celtics Reserves
Luke Kornet
Al Horford
Payton Pritchard
Neemias Queta
Baylor Scheierman
Jaden Springer
Jordan Walsh
Xavier Tillman
2 Way Players
JD Davison
Drew Peterson
Anton Watson
Injuries/Out
Sam Hauser (back) questionable
Head Coach
Joe Mazzulla
Probable Bulls Starters
Chicago Bulls Reserves
Lonzo Ball
Matas Buzelis
Jevon Carter
Torrey Craig
Chris Duarte
Talen Horton-Tucker
Julian Phillips
Jalen Smith
2-Way Players
EJ Liddell
Adama Sonogo
DJ Steward
Injuries/Out
Dalen Terry (knee) questionable
Josh Giddey (ankle) questionable
Torrey Craig (Achilles) questionable
Head Coach
Billy Donovan
Key Matchups
Jaylen Brown vs Zach LaVine
LaVine is averaging 22.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 4.2 assists. He is shooting 50.5% from the field and 43.5% from beyond the arc. In the first game against the Celtics, he finished with 29 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist while shooting 50% from the field and 36.4% from beyond the arc. On Thursday, he finished with 36 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists while shooting 57.9% from the field and 54.3% from beyond the arc. The Celtics must do a better job of defending LaVine if they want to win this game.
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Kristaps Porzingis
Photo by Brian Fluharty/Getty Images
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Nikola Vucevic
Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Kristaps Porzingis vs Nikola Vucevic
Vucevic is averaging 20.9 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 3.3 assists. He is shooting 59.2% from the field and 48.3% from beyond the arc. In the first game against the Celtics, he finished with 32 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 block while shooting 68.8% from the field and 66.7% from beyond the arc. On Thursday, Vucevic finished with 16 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 block while shooting 77.8% from the field and 66.7% from beyond the arc. The Celtics need to keep Vucevic off the boards and limit his shots both in the paint and on the perimeter, as he shoots the ball very well both in the paint and on the perimeter.
Honorable Mention
Derrick White vs Ayo Dosunmu
Dosunmu is averaging 13 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game. He is shooting 50% from the field and 33.6% from beyond the arc. On Thursday, Dosunmu finished with 17 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals while shooting 50% from the field and 60% from beyond the arc. The Celtics need to limit Dosunmu’s shots and defend him better in this game.
Keys to the Game
Defense – Defense is always a key to winning. The Celtics are 8th in the league with a defensive rating of 110.0. The Bulls are 25th with a defensive rating of 116.0. The Bulls are 5th, scoring 118.8 points per game while the Celtics are 3rd, scoring 119.5 points per game. The Celtics need to win this game with their defense and not try to win a shoot out. The Celtics need to get a strong defensive effort from every player on the court and they need to make defense a priority for all 48 minutes with no slacking off. The Celtics need to especially guard the 3 point line as the Bulls attempt the 2nd most threes per game (43.7) and make the second most threes per game (16.6). The Celtics allowed the Bulls to shot 44.7% from the field and 36.5% from beyond the arc on Thursday while shooting just 39.2% from the field and 25% from beyond the arc themselves. The definitely can play better defense and they have to or they may lose another game to the Bulls.
Rebound – The Celtics must box out and crash the boards. They can’t score without the ball and it will take extra effort on their part to beat the Bulls on the boards. Much of rebounding is effort and the Celtics have to put out more effort to grab rebounds in this game. The Celtics and Bulls are averaging 44.8 rebounds per game, which is 10th in the league. The Celtics were out-rebounded 56-45 on Thursday and they have to put out more effort to get to the rebounds before the Bulls and give themselves extra possessions and limit those possessions for the Bulls.
Three Point Shooting – These two teams combined for 108 threes on Thursday, with Boston shooting 56 and Chicago shooting 52. They missed a total of 75 threes between the two teams. The Celtics shot just 25% on 3’s and missed 42 of their 56 three pointers. The Celtics need to focus on taking good shots and they need to move the ball so as to get open shots. If the 3s aren’t falling, they need to get to the basket because they won’t win many games shooting 25% from the perimeter.
Stay Focused – The Celtics completely lost their composure in the 4th quarter of Thursday’s game. They were down by just 3 points when Joe Mazzulla got a tech and then Jaylen Brown got a tech and not long after, Jayson Tatum got a tech. They never recovered from that. They spent more time complaining about the calls than they did running plays and defending. The Celtics must keep their composure and stay focused on playing the right way, especially on the defensive end.
X-Factors
Road Game and Revenge – The Celtics are playing on the road and will have the distractions of travel and a hotel stay and playing in front of hostile fans in an unfamiliar arena. The Celtics were embarrassed on their home court on Thursday and should be looking to avenge that loss in this one. I expect some extra effort in this game to make up for the lack of effort we saw on Thursday.
Officiating – The officiating is always an x-factor. Look no further than Thursday’s game to prove that. Sometimes a crew will call the game tight and blow a whistle on every play. Other times they will let them play and let the game get physical. Sometimes, like on Thursday, they just make bad calls. The Celtics need to adjust to the way the game is called and not let missed calls or bad calls affect their focus. If the calls are bad, they just need to play harder to make up for them and not waste time arguing with the officials. Rarely does complaining to the refs have a positive effect.
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