The Bulls travel to TD Garden Sunday afternoon for a nationally televised game against the Celtics (2:30 PM CT, ABC). Derrick Rose is currently listed as a game-time decision with his sore back, but with the Heat only one game behind the Bulls in the loss column, I fully expect DRose to play in this one.
The Celtics struggled coming out of the gate, leading to early speculation that Danny Ainge was ready to break up the Big 3 (4 if you include Rondo) to bring back some young talent and draft picks. I even proposed trading a struggling Joakim Noah for a struggling Paul Pierce a few weeks back.
But the Celtics have turned things around somewhat as of late, winning 10 of their last 14 games to stand at 14-12 entering Sunday's contest, good for 7th in the Eastern Conference. But they have dropped their last two games, an overtime loss to the Lakers followed by a horrible loss in Toronto on Friday. But the Celtics always get up for the Bulls, and the teams have split the season series the last two years.
This should be a good game even if Rose decides he can't go, because the Bulls are playing outstanding ball even without Derrick. But the Bulls probably go from being a solid favorite with Derrick to a slight underdog without him.
It's hard to expect a team win against a +.500 team on the road without their best player, who is the reigning league MVP to boot. But the Bulls are playing so well right now, it's hard to ever expect them to lose a game to a team whose uniforms don't say "Miami" or "Heat" on the front.
You can expect this to be a low scoring game as both defenses rank in the top 3 in the NBA, and both teams play at a slow pace (the Bulls are 22nd and the Celtics 28th in possessions per game).
Bulls- Offensive Efficiency 108.4 (1st in the NBA), Defensive Efficiency 96.8 (2nd)
Celtics- Offensive Efficiency 101.6 (21st), Defensive Efficiency 97.7 (3rd)
Here are the game notes, courtesy of NBA Media Central:
The Bulls trail in the all-time series 111-89... the two teams have split the season series the last two years 2-2, with Chicago winning the final two games last season... over the last four-plus seasons, the Celtics are 12-6 during the regular season against the Bulls... against the Celtics last year, Derrick Rose averaged 26.0 ppg, 6.8 apg and 4.5 rpg, while Ray Allen led the Celtics vs the Bulls scoring 16.3 ppg... last year, the Bulls outscored Boston by an average of 96.0-93.5 in the four games... Boston swept the 2007-08 season series 4-0 for the first time since they went 6-0 against the Bulls during the 1986-87 season... the Bulls are 55-44 versus the Celtics in Chicago and 33-61 in Boston... in their four games last season, the Bulls outrebounded Boston 42.3 to 34.3 and outshot the Celtics .470 to .455 from the field.
The Bulls have already held their opponent under 70 points in six different games this season. No other team has done that even three times. The Bulls are the first team with six such games since the 2003-04 season, when the Pistons (11) and Spurs (six) each did so (Elias Sports Bureau).
The Bulls' 95-64 win at Charlotte on Friday was their eighth win this season by 20 or more points.
17 of the Bulls' 23 wins have been by 10 points or more, and they lead the NBA in point differential at +10.4 points per game.
The Bulls are 14-5 on the road, and their 14 wins are the most in the NBA.
The Bulls are 11-0 when they score more than 100 points, and they are 10-0 when they shoot 50% or better from the floor.
Filed under: Game Previews
Tags: boston celtics, chicago bulls, danny ainge, derrick rose, joakim noah, paul pierce
Aquinas wired
2 weeks, 1 day ago