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Chicago Bulls (5-13) at Boston Celtics (13-4)
Tuesday, November 28, 2023
7:30 PM ET
Regular Season Game #18, Home Game #8
TV: NBCSB, NBCSCH, NBA-LP
Radio: 98.5 The Sports Hub, 670 The Score
TD Garden
Probable Starting MatchupsPoint Guard
vs
Jrue Holiday vs Coby White
Shooting Guard 
vs
Derrick White vs Zach LaVine
Small Forward 
vs
Jaylen Brown vs DeMar DeRozan
Power Forward 
vs
Jayson Tatum vs Patrick Williams
Center 
vs
Al Horford vs Nikola Vucevic
Celtics ReservesDelano Banton
Oshae Brissett
Sam Hauser
Al Horford
Luke Kornet
Svi Mykhailiuk
Payton Pritchard
Lamar Stevens
Jordan Walsh
2 Way PlayersJD Davison
Nathan Knight
Neemias Queta
Injuries/OutKristaps Porzingis (calf) out
Jrue Holiday (ankle) questionable
Head CoachJoe Mazzulla
Bulls Reserves Jevon Carter
Torrey Craig
Ayo Dosunmu
Andre Drummond
Julian Phillips
Terry Taylor
Dalen Terry
Two Way Players Onuralp Bitim
Justin Lewis
Adama Sanogo
Injuries/Out Lonzo Ball (knee) out
Alex Caruso (toe) questionable
Zach LaVine (foot) questionable
Game Notes The Celtics host the Chicago Bulls for their 4th and final pool play game for East Group C of the In Season Tournament. This is the first of 3 meetings between these two teams this season. They will meet again on February 22 and on March 23, both in Chicago. The Celtics and Bulls tied the series last season 2-2 with each team winning on their home court.
The Celtics are 2nd in East Group C with a 2-1 record, behind the Magic, who are 3-1. The Bulls are last in the group with a 0-3 record. If the Celtics win this game and tie the Magic with a 3-1 group record, the tie breaker will then be total point differentials. To win the group and advance, the Celtics will need to beat the Bulls by at least 23 points and the Nets will need to beat the Raptors by fewer than 15 points.
The Celtics are first in the East going into this game, 1 game ahead of both Milwaukee and Orlando. They are 7-0 at home and 8-2 in their last 10 games. They are 12-3 against Eastern Conference teams. They are coming off a win in their last game. The Bulls are 13th in the East. They are 1-7 on the road and 2-8 in their last 10 games. They are 4-8 against the Eastern Conference and have lost their last 4 games.
The Celtics are playing in the 2nd of a 7 game home stand. They won the first game over the Hawks on Sunday. They will host Philadelphia on Friday and then Cleveland twice and Orlando twice after the In Season Tournament. Chicago is playing in the 4th and final game of a 4 game road trip. They lost the first 3 games to OKC, Toronto and Brooklyn. They will return home to face the Bucks on Thursday.
Kristaps Porzingis has missed the last 2 games with a calf injury and is expected to be out for this game as well. Jrue Holiday also missed the last two games and is questionable for this game. He did practice on Monday and will be a game time decision. I expect Al Horford to start at center once again. If Jrue is unable to play, Sam Hauser may start or it may be Delano Banton again or even someone else.
For the Bulls, Zach LaVine is questionable with a foot injury. He has played in his last 2 games in spite of being listed as questionable for both of them so I'm thinking he is likely to play in this one. Alex Caruso missed the last game with a toe injury and is questionable for this game. If Caruso can play, he may return to the starting lineup in place of Patrick Williams. Lonzo Ball is out for the season with a knee injury.
Key Matchups 
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Derrick White vs Zach LaVine
LaVine is averaging 22.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 3.4 assists. He is shooting 45.3% from the field and 34.4% from beyond the arc. Over his career, he has averaged 19.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 3.5 assists. He shot 43.8% from the field and 33.3% from beyond the arc. LaVine shoots very well from the perimeter and he is also very good at getting to the basket and so the Celtics need to stay with him wherever he is on the court.
vs
Jaylen Brown vs DeMar DeRozan
DeRozan is playing very well, averaging 21.5 points,3.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.0 steals per game. He is shooting 44.8% from the field and 37.3% from beyond the arc. Over his career against Boston, DeRozan has averaged 21.2 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. He is capable of putting up big numbers and the Celtics need to find a way to slow him down. They especially need to cover him in the mid range.
Honorable MentionAl Horford Nikola Vucevic
Vucevic is averaging 15.8 points, 10.2 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. He is shooting 46.0% from the field and 25.4% from beyond the arc. Over his career against Boston, he averaged 16.4 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 3.1 assists. He shot 48.4% from the field and 29.9% from beyond the arc. With Porzingis out, it will fall to Al Horford to try to limit Vucevic inside and keep him off the boards.
Keys to the Game Defense - Defense is always a key to winning. The Celtics are 4th in the league with a defensive rating of 107.5. The Bulls are 21st with a defensive rating of 115.2. The Celtics need to get a strong defensive effort from every player on the court and they need to get back to making 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 2nd in the league. The Bulls are averaging 40.9 rebounds per game, which is 27th. 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.
Stay Focused - The Celtics need to come in focused and stay focused throughout the game. They need to focus on their shots and shot selection. They need to focus on making their free throws as they have had games where they have missed way too many free throws. They need to focus on playing defense and making the right switches. They need to focus on making good passes and not turning the ball over as the Bulls are 2nd in the league, averaging 20.1 points off turnovers per game. And they need to focus on sharing the ball and making the right play. Lack of focus results in those horrible shooting nights and high turnover games and they can't afford either of those in this game.
No Let Up - Recently, the Celtics have been playing well for much of the game and then for some reason, they let up in the second half to give up big leads and make the game much harder on themselves. They need to be aggressive and play hard for all 48 minutes and they can't let up. They especially need to keep their energy and play hard throughout in this game if they hope to win their group for the In Season Tournament.
X-Factors Home Game vs Road Game - The Celtics are at home and should get a boost from the home crowd. They also have the benefit of sleeping in their own beds and playing on a familiar court and not having fatigue from travel. The Bulls have all the distractions of playing on the road. This is also the final game of a road trip and that is usually the hardest to win.
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, especially since complaining usually only makes the refs angry and doesn't change the calls.
Topic: Bulls (5-13) at Celtics (13-4) Game #18 11/28/23 (Read 11526 times)