THE Celtics continue their road trip with a stop in Chicago to face 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 at Boston on 11/28 and winning at Chicago 129-112 on 2/22. The Celtics and Bulls evened the series 2-2 last season, with each team winning at home.
The Celtics are 131-109 overall against the Bulls and 55-71 in games played in Chicago. The Celtics are playing in the second night of back-to-back games and 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 in the second straight game 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 last 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 2 home games beating the Pistons and also the Milwaukee Bucks. They are playing 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 a game at Milwaukee before finishing the season at home against New York, Charlotte and Washington.
The Bulls play the first game of a 3-game home series with Washington and Indiana after the Celtics. They will then play Brooklyn and Minnesota before returning home to host Atlanta and New York. They will play in Orlando and at home against New York before finishing the season on the road against New York, Detroit and Washington.
Once again, it’s difficult to predict who will play for the Celtics with several questionable players. Since they played Friday in the back-to-back game, I’m guessing Kristaps Porzingis and Jaylen Brown won’t play in this one. Jayson Tatum and Al Horford will likely play. Jrue Holiday missed 3 games with a shoulder contusion and could miss this one as well. I assume the starters will be Pritchard, White, Hauser, Tatum and Horford. However, this is just my guess.
For the Bulls, Lonzo Ball missed the entire season with various knee injuries. They hope he can play next season. Zach LaVine is out after season-ending surgery on his right foot. Julian Phillips is injured with a sprained right foot. Patrick Williams underwent surgery to repair bone swelling 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.
Celtics likely starters
Celtics reserves
Oshae Brissett
Luc Kornet
Svi Mykhailiuk
Jaden Springer
Jordan Walsh
Xavier Tillman
2-way players
JD Davison
Drew Peterson
Neemias Queta
Injuries/Exclusions
Kristaps Porzingis (hamstring) questionable
Jaylen Brown (ankle) questionable
Jrue Holiday (shoulder) questionable
The head coach
Joe Mazzulla
Bull reserves
Onuralp Bitim
Jevon Carter
André Drummond
Terry Taylor
Dalen Terry
Coby White
Two-way players
Andrew Funk
Henri Drell
Adama Sanogo
Injuries/Exclusions
Lonzo Ball (knee) out
Zach LaVine (foot) out
Julian Phillips (foot) absent
Patrick Williams (foot) absent
Coby White (hip) likely
Alex Caruso (ankle) probable
The head coach
Billy Donovan
Key matches
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Jaylen Brown
Photos by Michael Gonzales/NBAE via Getty Images
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DeMar DeRozan
Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images
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 middle of the field.
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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 without 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 started much of the season for the Bulls, but in recent games he has come off the bench. He averages 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 averaged 19.5 points, 1.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists while shooting 44.8 percent from the field and 50 percent from beyond the arc.
Game keys
Defense – Defense is always the key to victory. 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 during the relentless 48 minutes.
Bounce – The Celtics need to box out and crash the boards. They can’t score without the ball and it will take extra effort to beat the Bulls on the boards. The Celtics are averaging 46.8 rebounds per game, which ranks first in the league. The Bulls are averaging 43.6 rebounds per game, which ranks them 17th. The Celtics need to put more effort into getting the rebounds before the Bulls, giving themselves extra possessions and limiting those possessions for the Bulls.
Take care of the ball – The Celtics need to focus on making good passes and not dribbling into the 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 turnover points per game and the Celtics need to focus on basketball to limit those extra points for the Bulls.
Don’t underestimate – The Celtics cannot underestimate the Bulls. They might be tempted to do so because the Bulls have a losing record and because they’ve already beaten them twice 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 need to come out and play hard from start to finish.
X factors
Road play and fatigue – The Celtics are playing on the road and will have the distractions of travel, a hotel stay and playing in front of hostile fans in an unfamiliar arena. The Celtics are playing in the second night of back-to-back games and the third game in 4 nights, while playing shorthanded in those games. Fatigue might come into play in this one.
Officer – Officiating is always an The Celtics need to adapt to how 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 it and not waste time arguing with the officials.
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