Final: Celtics 107, Bulls 99 - Tatum, C's shake off late Bulls run to hold on

Game 41: Celtics (-9) vs Chicago Bulls, 7:30 p.m., TD Garden, NBCS Boston/NBA TV

Injuries: 

Boston: Danilo Gallinari, Marcus Smart (left knee contusion)

Chicago: Lonzo Ball (knee), Tony Bradley (Health and Safety protocols), Alex Caruso (questionable, ankle), Javonte Green (knee) 

Bulls probable starters: Ayo Dosunmu, Zach LaVine, Nikola Vucevic, Patrick Williams, DeMar DeRozan

Refs: Zach Zarba (#15), Kevin Cutler (#34), Jenna Schroeder (#84)

Last time they played: Bulls 121, Celtics 107, November 21 - The Celtics came out freezing cold, once again stinking it up in Chicago. They shot 5-17 from deep in the first quarter, 3-9 in the second quarter. Meanwhile, their defense was too loose, allowing 63 first half points. Jaylen Brown tried to carry the Celtics with his shooting, but the turnovers from him and everyone else, and some bad defense, ended a 9-game Celtics winning streak. 

A little something about this game: The Bulls come in having won three straight and 8 of 11. DeRozan (35 points) and LaVine (36) scored at least 30 in the same game for the first time this season in their win over Utah Saturday night. This is the third game in four nights for Chicago. The Bulls have beaten Boston twice this season, both in Chicago. The Celtics beat Chicago in Boston once already, so the final game of the season between these two teams comes at the halfway point of the season.

How the Celtics win: Run, run, run. It’ll be tougher without Marcus Smart because he pushes the pace a lot when the Celtics are playing slow, but they have to take advantage of this being a 3-in-4 for Chicago. The Bulls will probably come out strong, but they might not have the resolve to come back if they fall into a hole, so take their first punch and push the pace. Don’t worry about falling behind early. They won’t have the legs to last if the Celtics keep the pressure on them, and if they relax at all after building a lead, the Celtics can pounce and flip the script.

How the Bulls win: The way they beat the Celtics the last couple of times, by crashing the boards, getting putbacks, and drawing fouls. Mix in a steady diet of DeRozan murdering Boston in the mid-range and Chicago will have a great chance to win this game. 

Things I’m looking for:

More Robert Williams: After the last Bulls game, I wrote … 

The Celtics gave up way too much at the rim. According to CleaningTheGlass.com, the Bulls got 37% of their shots at the rim, where they shot 72.4%. Having Robert Williams back there to wall off driving lanes is something the Celtics desperately need in these matchups. 

The Bulls also got 22% of their offense from the long mid-range shot, something the Celtics can probably take away more if they felt more comfortable with a rim protector behind them. 

On the other end, Boston got to the rim 33% of the time but only shot 55.6%. Adding a lob threat like Williams would go a long way toward turning that number around.

I’d love to see Robert Williams out there against that starting unit. I’m not sure what he’s medically cleared to do, so I’m not saying this in terms of more minutes, but I would like to see him in more impactful parts of the game. With Smart out, This is a clear opportunity to slide Rob into the starting lineup. 

 He’s scored 77 points over his last two games, going 17 for 25 from 3. 11 of those 3 pointers came in a 41 point outburst against the Philadelphia 76ers. 

“I feel great. Legs feel healthy,” LaVine said after Saturday’s win. “Felt springy at the beginning of the game. So, yeah it's good to feel like me again."

This was LaVine’s first back-to-back this season, so there's a chance the third game in four nights could throw him off a bit. The Celtics might want to put him in a lot of defensive actions to really test him and see if he wears out a little earlier than usual. If his shots are short, you know he’s tired.  

Malcolm Brogdon’s shooting: He’s off to a hot start to January. Can he keep that up?

What something to pass the time until the game? Here's the latest Locked On Celtics podcast with me and Tom Westerholm discussing playing Robert Williams more and adjusting our expectations of the team against bad opponents.

Follow along below or in the comments during the game, chime in, and let’s have fun.