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Chicago Bulls (1-0) at Boston Celtics (0-1)
Monday, April 20
7:00 PM ET
Postseason Game 2, Home Game 2
TV: TNT, CSN HD, CSN Chicago
PreGame Live: CSN HD 6:00 PM
TD Banknorth Garden 
Probable Starting Matchups Point Guard 
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Rajon Rondo PPG 29.0 RPG 9.00 APG 7.0 EFF + 38.00
Derrick Rose PPG 36.0 RPG 4.00 APG 11.0 EFF + 40.00
Shooting Guard 
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Ray Allen PPG 4.0 RPG 3.00 APG 1.0 EFF 0.00
Ben Gordon PPG 20.0 RPG 3.00 APG 5.0 EFF + 16.00
Small Forward 
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Paul Pierce PPG 23.0 RPG 7.00 APG 3.0 EFF + 17.00
John Salmons PPG 12.0 RPG 6.00 APG 0.0 EFF + 10.00
Power Forward 
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Glen Davis PPG 18.0 RPG 3.00 APG 2.0 EFF + 14.00
Tyrus Thomas PPG 16.0 RPG 6.00 APG 1.0 EFF + 20.00
Center 
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Kendrick Perkins PPG 14.0 RPG 8.00 APG 0.0 EFF + 17.00
Joakim Noah PPG 11.0 RPG 17.00 APG 2.0 EFF + 24.00
Coach: Doc Rivers
Average Age: 26.7
Average Height: 6-6
Average Weight: 222ReservesMikki Moore 2 ppg, 4 rpg, 5 min
Stephon Marbury 0 ppg, 2 rpg, 3 apg, 2 TO, 10 min
Eddie House 5 ppg (2-8), 1 rpg, 1 spg 16 min
Tony Allen 0 ppg, 0 rpg, 0 apg (8 min)
Leon Powe 8 ppg, 8 rpg, 16 min
Brian Scalabrine DNP
Gabe Pruitt DNP
Bill Walker DNP
Injuries: Kevin Garnett (knee) out
Coach: Vinny Del Negro
Average Age: 26.0
Average Height: 6-7
Average Weight: 219 ReservesKirk Hinrich 3 ppg, 3 rpg
Tim Thomas 3 ppg, 2 rpg
Brad Miller 4 ppg, 12 rpg
Lindsey Hunter DNP
Anthony Roberson DNP
Linton Johnson DNP
Aaron Gray DNP
InjuriesLuol Deng (shin) out
Jerome James (Achilles) out
Team ConnectionsCeltics assistant coach Clifford Ray played for the Bulls from 1971-74
Ben Gordon and Ray Allen are former UConn Huskies
Paul Pierce and Kirk Hinrich are former Kansas Jayhawks
Glen Davis and Tyrus Thomas were teammates at LSU
Mikki Moore, Brad Miller, and John Salmons were teammates in Sacramento
Key Matchups
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Rajon Rondo PPG 29.0 RPG 9.00 APG 7.0 EFF + 38.00
Derrick Rose PPG 36.0 RPG 4.00 APG 11.0 EFF + 40.00
This matchup didn't disappoint in the first game of this series. Rondo almost single handedly kept the Celtics in the game but in the end he just didn't get enough help from the other players. But, Rondo couldn't get it done on the defensive end, allowing Rose to get to the hoop almost at will. We can expect another very exciting matchup between these two point guards, but hopefully, Rondo will get some help in game 2.
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Paul Pierce PPG 23.0 RPG 7.00 APG 3.0 EFF + 17.00
John Salmons PPG 12.0 RPG 6.00 APG 0.0 EFF + 10.00
Don't let Pierce's numbers fool you. He may have scored 23 points, but was all but invisible in the crucial first half. He shot just 8-21 and turned the ball over 4 times. He also missed a free throw that could have given the Celtics the win in regulation. Too often, we saw Pierce iso's and Pierce dribbling into 3 defenders instead of trying to find the open man and playing team ball. Pierce needs to be a leader on the court and get the Celtics back to playing the right way for the Celtics to have a chance in this series.
Honorable Mention Ray Allen PPG 4.0 RPG 3.00 APG 1.0 EFF 0.00
Ben Gordon PPG 20.0 RPG 3.00 APG 5.0 EFF + 16.00
Ray was way off in the first game, shooting just 1-12 from the field and 0-6 from beyond the arc. He did a decent job of defending Ben Gordon in the first half, but in the 4th quarter, Gordon lit up the Celtics to finish with 20 points. The Celtics need to try to get Ray some easy looks early to try to get him going. The Celtics need his offense and will struggle if he goes 1-12 again.
Coaching Matchup
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Doc Rivers vs Vinny Del Negro
This was Del Negro's first playoff game as a head coach but yet he seemed to make the right moves every step of the way. He made the adjustments when needed whereas Doc seemed a bit slow in his adjustments. Doc shouldn't be out-coached by a rookie coach and has to be the one who makes the right moves.
Game Notes: The Celtics have not played well in afternoon games this season. Maybe that was the problem. Or maybe they were overconfident and thought that they could win the game just by showing up. Whatever they thought, it didn't work and hopefully the loss in game 1 was a wake-up call for the Celtics.
The only stat where the Celtics did better than the Bulls is a surprising one: Turnovers. The Celtics had only 12 turnovers to 16 for the Bulls. But of the 12, Pierce had 4 of them. We should get better than that from our star player. The Celtics were out-rebounded by 8. The Celtics shot just 39% from the floor while allowing the Bulls to shoot 43%. The Bulls were 20-22 from the free throw line (91%), including 2 clutch free throws down the stretch by the Bulls' rookie Derrick Rose. The Celtics were just 21-27 (78%) from the line, including a very costly miss by Pierce that could have won the game in regulation.
Keys To The Game Defense Granted the Celtics are without the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, but they are capable of playing better defense than they did against the Bulls on Saturday. They allowed the Bulls to get pretty much any shot they wanted and seemed incapable of getting stops. The Celtics must get back to making defense a priority and play the team defense that they are capable of. They struggled with their defense after KG went out, but by the end of the season, they seemed to be getting their defensive intensity back again. It was nowhere to be seen in game 1 and they need to get it back if they expect to get out of the first round.
Ball Movement The Celtics were not moving the ball in game 1. Each player seemed intent on trying to win the game himself and that never works. The offense was out of sync and they finished the game shooting 39% from the field with only 16 assists for the game. They must move the ball and find the open man and make the extra pass. The Lone Ranger will not win this game. It has to be a team effort
Rebound If you want to see how much a team wants a game and how much effort they are putting into it, check out the rebounds. The Celtics were out rebounded in game 1 as they had only 45 rebounds to 53 for the Bulls. 98% of rebounding is effort and desire. The Celtics just didn't have it and the Bulls did. The Celtics must crash the boards and prevent second chance points. They also have to give themselves the opportunity to get second chance baskets by hustling for the offensive boards.
Quotes from Game 1 “When you have a game like this, I think the key thing is that everybody on the team just has to be honest with themselves - you know, got to look in the mirror and just go from there,” Kendrick Perkins said. “I think everybody’s got to be honest with themselves.
“Who are you going to blame? Nobody’s lacing them up but us. We see that they’re for real, and we’ve just got to come ready to play next game.”"As the captain of the ball club, I can't allow that, for us to come out as flat as we came out," a noble Pierce admitted after the defeat. "We've got to understand, `Hey, this is the playoffs, you lose you go home,' so we have to have a better sense of urgency from the jump each and every game. And I promise you that we will."“We feel like we have nothing to lose,” said Bulls guard Ben Gordon. “The pressure’s not on us. We just have to go out there and play hard. And that’s what we did.”X-FactorEffort and Focus The Celtics didn't bring much of either to the first game and will need to put forth a much stronger effort in game 2, especially since they gave the young Bulls a boost of confidence by allowing them to prevail in game 1. They need to regain their focus especially on the defensive end but also have to focus on playing team ball on the offensive end. Each player trying to get it done himself just won't be successful.
Topic: Bulls (1-0) at Celtics (0-1) Round 1 Game 2 4/20 (Read 100663 times)