The Celtics continue their road trip with a stop in Chicago to take on the Bulls. This is the 3rd and final meeting between these 2 teams this season. The Celtics are 2-0 so far this season, winning 124-97 in Boston on 11/28 and winning in Chicago 129-112 on 2/22. The Celtics and Bulls tied the series 2-2 last season with each team winning at home.
The Celtics are 131-109 overall all time against the Bulls and 55-71 in games played in Chicago. The Celtics are playing on the second night of back to back games and in the 3rd game in 4 nights. The Celtics are 10-2 on the second night of back to back games, losing only to Charlotte and Milwaukee. The Celtics are 3-1 on the second of back to back games when both are played on the road.
The Celtics remain 1st in the East, 11 games ahead of 2nd place Milwaukee, 12 games ahead of 3rd place Cleveland, 14 games ahead of 4th place Orlando, 14.5 games ahead of 5th place New York, and 17 games ahead of 6th place Indiana. They are 23-11 on the road and 8-2 in their last 10 games. They are 37-7 against Eastern Conference teams and have won their last 8 games.
The Bulls are 9th in the East, 3.5 games ahead of 10th place Atlanta and 8 games ahead of 11th place Brooklyn. They are 4.5 games behind 7th place Miami and 8th place Philadelphia. They are 5 games behind 6th place Indiana and the final guaranteed playoff spot. The Bulls are 18-17 at home and 6-4 in their last 10 games. They are 18-22 against Eastern Conference teams and are coming off a loss in their last game.
The Celtics just finished up 2 games at home, beating the Pistons and also the Milwaukee Bucks. They are playing in the second game of a 6 game road trip through Detroit, Chicago, 2 games in Atlanta, New Orleans and Charlotte. They will return home for 3 games against Oklahoma City, Sacramento, and Portland. Then it’s one game in Milwaukee before finishing the season at home against New York, Charlotte and Washington.
The Bulls are playing in the first game of a 3 game home stand with Washington and Indiana coming in after the Celtics. They will then play at Brooklyn and Minnesota before returning home to host Atlanta and New York. They will play at Orlando and home against New York before finishing the season on the road against New York, Detroit, and Washington.
Once again, it is tough to predict who will play for the Celtics with several players questionable. Since they played in Friday’s portion of the back to back, I’m going to guess that Kristaps Porzingis and Jaylen Brown will not play in this one. Jayson Tatum and Al Horford will likely play. Jrue Holiday has missed 3 games with a shoulder contusion and may miss this one also. I’m guessing that the starters will be Pritchard, White, Hauser, Tatum and Horford. That’s just my guess, however.
For the Bulls, Lonzo Ball has missed the entire season with various knee injuries. They are hoping that he will be able to play next season. Zach LaVine is out after season-ending surgery on his right foot. Julian Phillips is out with a right foot sprain. Patrick Williams underwent surgery to fix bone edema in his left foot and will be out for the remainder of the season. Coby White (hip) and Alex Caruso (ankle) are both probable for this game.
Probable Celtics Starters
Celtics Reserves
Oshae Brissett
Luke Kornet
Svi Mykhailiuk
Jaden Springer
Jordan Walsh
Xavier Tillman
2 Way Players
JD Davison
Drew Peterson
Neemias Queta
Injuries/Out
Kristaps Porzingis (hamstring) questionable
Jaylen Brown (ankle) questionable
Jrue Holiday (shoulder) questionable
Head Coach
Joe Mazzulla
Bulls Reserves
Onuralp Bitim
Jevon Carter
Andre Drummond
Terry Taylor
Dalen Terry
Coby White
Two Way Players
Andrew Funk
Henri Drell
Adama Sanogo
Injuries/Out
Lonzo Ball (knee) out
Zach LaVine (foot) out
Julian Phillips (foot) out
Patrick Williams (foot) out
Coby White (hip) probable
Alex Caruso (ankle) probable
Head Coach
Billy Donovan
Key Matchups
Jaylen Brown vs DeMar DeRozan
DeRozan is averaging 23.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.1 steals per game. He is shooting 47.2% from the field and 33.5% from beyond the arc. Against the Celtics this season, DeRozan averaged 19 points, 3 rebounds and 5.5 assists while shooting 45.2% from the field and 33.3% from beyond the arc. DeRozan is very good and the Celtics need to defend him, especially in the mid-range.
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Al Horford
Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images
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Nikola Vucevic
Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Al Horford vs Nikola Vucevic
Vucevic is averaging 18.2 points, 10.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game. He is shooting 47.9% from the field and 28.6% from beyond the arc. Against the Celtics this season, he averaged 15 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal, while shooting 46.7% from the field with no 3 pointers. The Celtics need to keep him off the boards.
Honorable Mention
Sam Hauser vs Coby White
White has had a very good year and has started for much of the season for the Bulls but in recent games has come off the bench. He is averaging 19.4 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game. He is shooting 45.1% from the field and 38.8% from beyond the arc. Against the Celtics this season, he has averaged 19.5 points, 1.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists while shooting 44.8% from the field and 50% from beyond the arc.
Keys to the Game
Defense – Defense is always a key to winning. The Celtics are 2nd in the league with a defensive rating of 110.4. The Bulls are 16th with a defensive rating of 115.5. 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.
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. The Celtics are averaging 46.8 rebounds per game, which is 1st in the league. The Bulls are averaging 43.6 rebounds per game, which is 17th. The Celtics 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.
Take Care of the Ball – The Celtics need to focus on making good passes and on not dribbling into a crowd. It’s hard to win a game when you give the opponent 15+ extra possessions by turning the ball over. The Bulls are 9th in the league with 17.1 points off turnovers a game and the Celtics have to focus on taking care of the basketball to limit those extra points for the Bulls.
Don’t Underestimate – The Celtics can’t underestimate the Bulls. They may be tempted to because the Bulls have a losing record and because they beat them twice already this season. But that could be dangerous against a team that is in the middle of the East and has young players who will play hard and want to win. The Celtics have to come out and play hard from start to finish.
X-Factors
Road Game and Fatigue – 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 are playing on the second night of back to back games and in the 3rd game in 4 nights along with playing short handed in those games. Fatigue could come into play in this one.
Officiating – The officiating is always an x-factor. 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. 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.
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