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Chicago Bulls (1-4) at Boston Celtics (3-1)
Friday, October 30, 2026
7:30 PM ET
Regular Season Game #5, Home Game #4
NBA Emirates Cup Game #1
TV: NBCSB, CHSN, NBA-LP
Radio: 98.5 Sports Hub,  104.3 The Score, Sirius XM
TD Garden


Probable Starting Matchups
Point Guard
vs
Derrick White vs Josh Giddey

Shooting Guard
vs
Jordan Walsh  vs  Norman Powell

Small Forward
vs
Paul George vs Matas Buzelis

Power Forward
vs
Jayson Tatum vs  Caleb Wilson

Center
vs
Mitchell Robinson vs Jalen Smith

Celtics Reserves
Chris Cenac, Jr
Mike Conley, Jr
Luka Garza
Hugo Gonzalez
Ron Harper, Jr
Sam Hauser
Payton Pritchard
Neemias Queta
Baylor Scheierman

Two Way Players
Devin Carter
Dillon Mitchell
Amari Williams

Injuries/Out
Devin Carter (illness)  out

Head Coach
Joe Mazzulla

Bulls Reserves
Zach Collins
Buddy Hield
Tre Jones
Leonard Miller
Isaac Okoro
Dailyn Swain

Two-Way Players
Tobe Awaka
Jordan Hawkins
Jaylin Sellers

Injuries/Out
Nic Claxton (hamstring) out
Noa Essengue (head) questionable
Patrick Williams (groin) questionable

Head Coach
Tiago Splitter

Game Notes
The Celtics host the Chicago Bulls for the 2nd time in a week.  This is the 2nd of 4 games between these two teams this season.  The Celtics won the first game 134-99 in the first game in Boston.  They will meet two more times in Chicago on December 30 and March 9.   The Celtics are 140-111 overall all time against the Bulls and they are 81-40 all times in games played in Boston.

This is the first NBA Emirates Cup game for both teams.    They are part of East Group C, which also includes Charlotte, Atlanta and Washington.  The Celtics will play at Charlotte on November 6 and at Washington on November 24.  They will host Atlanta on November 27.  If they win the group, they will advance to the quarterfinals on December 4 and 5.  The Semifinals are December 8 and 9.  The Championship is December 11.  The Celtics have only made it out of the group stage once, back in 2023.   

The Bulls have had a lot of change since last season. They replaced Billy Donovan with Tiago Splitter at head coach.  They traded for Nic Claxton and Buddy Hield.  They signed free agent Norman Powell and 2-way players Tobe Awaka and Jaylin Sellers.  They signed Caleb Wilson (4th pick) and Dailyn Swain (15th pick).  They lost Anfernee Simons, Collin Sexton, Nick Richards, Yuki Kawamura, MacMcClung, Guerschon Yabusele and Rob Dillingham. 

After this game, the Celtics will play at Orlando and Houston and then home against Milwaukee before a road trip takes them through Charlotte, Milwaukee, Philadelphia and Toronto.  They play Dallas and Orlando at home before a West coast trip that takes them through Denver, Sacramento, Golden State, and Washington.  They then play one game at home against Atlanta before playing at San Antonio and Dallas. 

Next for the Bulls, they will play at Philadelphia and at New York.  They then host Philadelphia, San Antonio and Atlanta before playing at Minnesota, Cleveland, and Brooklyn.  They then host Washington, Denver and Cleveland before one road game at Charlotte and a 6 game home stand hosting Indiana, New York, Cleveland, Houston, Miami and Utah. 

The Celtics have started Derrick White, Jordan Walsh, Paul George, Jayson Tatum and Mitchell Robinson in every game so far and I have once again listed the same starters for this game.  It's also possible that Joe may change this at any given time.  I've listed the Bulls regular starters from their last game, which are Josh Giddey, Norman Powell, Matas Buzelis, Caleb Wilson, and Jalen Smith. 

The Celtics still have just Devin Carter on the injury report due to illness.  After missing the final 3 games of the preseason, Carter was diagnosed with mononucleosis and is without a timetable for a return.  The Bulls list starting center Nic Claxton out due to a hamstring injury.  Patrick Williams (groin) and Noa Essengue (head) are both questionable for this game. 

Key Matchups
vs
Jayson Tatum vs  Caleb Wilson
Wilson was the 4th pick in the draft for the Bulls and is playing very well so far.  He is averaging 20.8 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.4 blocks per game while shooting 41.9% from the field and 17.9% from beyond the arc. In Monday's game against the Celtics, he finished with 17 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks.  Hopefully Jayson Tatum can continue to play at an MVP level. 

vs
Jordan Walsh  vs  Norman Powell
Powell is averaging 21.6 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 2.2 steals per game.  He is shooting 36.5% from the field and 34.4% from beyond the arc.  On Monday, against the Celtics, he finished with 20 points, 1 rebound, 2.0 assists and 4 steals while shooting 45.5% from the field and 57.1% from beyond the arc.  The Celtics need to defend him better in this game and also be aware of his presence on defense as he is a threat to steal the ball.

Honorable Mention
Paul George vs Matas Buzelis
Buzelis is averaging 14.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.0 assists a per game while shooting 38.9% from the field and 21.1% from beyond the arc.   In Monday's game against the Celtics, he finished with 11 points, 1 rebound, 2.0 assists and 1 steal, while shooting 50% from the field and 50% from beyond the arc. 


Keys to the Game
Defense - As always, defense is the key to winning this, and every, game.  In the preseason, the Celtics were tops in the league with a defensive rating of 98.6. The Celtics are 10th in the league with a 108.5 defensive rating.  The Bulls are 20th with a defensive rating of 120.2.  The Celtics need to continue to make defense their priority. 

Rebound -  As with defense,  rebounding will always be a key to winning.  The Celtics have to crash the boards as a team and go after every rebound.  In the preseason, the Celtics were 1st with 55 rebounds per game and 3rd with 16.8 offensive rebounds per game. So far in the regular season, they are 16th in rebounding with 44.3 rebounds per game.  The Bulls are 10th with 46.3 rebounds per game.  In Monday's game against the Bulls, the Celtics outrebounded the Bulls 54-40.   The Celtics need to have that same effort on the boards in this game. 

b]Move the Ball Carefully[/b] -  The Celtics need to move the ball to get the best shots.  The Celtics are much better when they move the ball and don't lapse into iso ball.  But, they have to be careful with the ball and avoid turnovers.  In Monday's game, the Celtics committed 24 turnovers.  The Bulls are averaging 17.3 points off turnovers per game.  The Celtics need to make the extra pass to find the best shot but they also need to stay focused and make careful passes.

3 Point Shooting - If the Bulls have one weakness, it is their 3 point shooting.  As a team, they are shooting 42 threes per game to 41.5 threes per game for the Celtics.  However, the Celtics are shooting 38.6% from beyond the arc (7th) while the Bulls are shooting just 23.8% from beyond the arc (30th).  The Celtics need to defend the perimeter and not allow them to get hot shooting the 3.   

X-Factors
Home Game -  The Celtics need to take advantage of home court and the boost their fans can give them.  The Bulls will face a hostile crowd and an unfamiliar arena along with travel which will hopefully give the Celtics the edge.  The Celtics need to play hard and protect home court and use the advantages it gives to get a win.   

Revenge - These two teams just played each other on Monday when the Celtics embarrassed the Bulls, winning 134-99.  The Bulls have had 3 days to let that simmer and to feel the embarrassment of the 35 point drubbing.  They are going to want to come out strong and get revenge on the Celtics for that loss.   The Celtics need to be ready for that and come out strong themselves to counter the extra effort from the Bulls. 

Officiating - Officiating is always an x-factor in every game. Every crew officiates differently. Some call it tight, others let them play. The Celtics need to adjust to how the refs are calling the game and not allow bad calls or no calls to take away their focus from playing the game.  The Celtics also have to be aware of the new points of emphasis for this season and try to avoid  off‑arm push‑offs, reckless closeouts, delays before free throws illegal screens and especially floppping.  Paul George was already fined for a flop in the first game and there were several flopping calls in the game against the Nets.