© Bob DeChiara
BSJ Live Coverage: Celtics at Bulls 8:00 p.m. - Second night of back-to-back for Boston
BOSTON CELTICS (28-16) at CHICAGO BULLS (22-22)
Location: United Center, Chicago, IL
Game time: 8:00 p.m.
TV: NBC Sports Boston
Radio: 98.5 The Sports Hub
Celtics injury report:
Jaylen Brown - PROBABLE (left hamstring tightness)
Neemias Queta - PROBABLE (non-Covid illness)
Josh Minott - OUT (left ankle sprain)
Jayson Tatum - OUT (right Achilles repair)
Bulls injury report:
Zach Collins - OUT (right first toe sprain)
Noa Essengue - OUT (left shoulder surgery)
Josh Giddey - PROBABLE (left hamstring strain)
Tre Jones - DOUBTFUL (left hamstring strain)
Yuki Kawamura - OUT (G League, two-way)
Emanuel Miller - OUT (G League, two-way)
Lachlan Olbrich - PROBABLE (right thoracic strain)
Patrick Williams - PROBABLE (right ankle sprain)
What to watch for: The Boston Celtics are almost certainly exhausted. Outside of Derrick White, who got a rest day against the Brooklyn Nets on Friday, the entire roster just completed a double-overtime gauntlet.
Jaylen Brown and Payton Pritchard both played 40-plus minutes. Sam Hauser, Baylor Scheierman, and Anfernee Simons all played over 30 (with Hauser getting close to 40). Now, they’re in a new city on the very next night for another basketball game.
Meanwhile, the Chicago Bulls had the night off on Friday and will be walking into Saturday’s game with much fresher legs than Boston.
Tale of the tape: This will mark just the second time these two teams have squared off this season, with the Celtics earning the edge in their first matchup.
Though it was only a 14-point win for Boston, it felt like much more than that. The Celtics struggled to find their rhythm, but the Bulls’ offense was somehow even worse.
Simons dropped a 27-point masterpiece off the pine to spearhead Boston’s victory, and all 27 of his points came in the second half, leading the Celtics to a 115-101 win.
Last game: The Celtics were saved by Hugo Gonzalez and Amari Williams—two rookies—on Friday night. They blew a double-digit lead in the fourth-quarter, allowing the Nets to climb all the way back.
But when their back was against the wall, Gonzalez nailed a game-tying corner three at the end of the first overtime period. Then, with under a minute to go in overtime No. 2, Williams came through with a game-sealing block.
Standings check-in: With Boston’s win in Brooklyn, they kept their spot in second place in the East. They are still 4.5 games behind the Detroit Pistons, but their lead over the three seed has grown. And it’s not the New York Knicks anymore.
Instead, the Toronto Raptors are now in third place, but the Celtics are 1.5 games ahead of them.
Bulls check-in: Unfortunately for the Celtics, the Bulls are in a much different place than they were last time the two teams faced off.
Heading into Saturday night, the Bulls have won three in a row, five of their last seven, and 12 of their last 19. After looking like they were plummeting toward the bottom of the standings, Chicago is now floating around the Play-In Tournament.
Nikola Vucevic has been playing great for the Bulls. In his last 10 games, he’s averaging 19.2 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 5.0 assists while shooting 52.3% from the floor and 35.6% from deep on 4.5 three-point attempts per contest.
Coby White, Matas Buzelis, Ayo Dosunmu, and Tre Jones have also been playing at a high level. They’re all shooting at least 39% from three in their last seven games (10 games, in the case of Buzelis, Dosunmu, and Jones).
One fun play: Hauser has been on fire lately. Teams have started guarding the Celtics differently, which has given him space to work behind the three-point line. But Brooklyn took defending him to a whole new level. At least, for a single play.
Obviously, this play was a busted coverage, but Hauser’s three-point talent was occupying so much space in the Nets’ brains that two defenders followed him to the top of the key.
This allowed Pritchard to drive into space, draw more Nets defenders, and kick the ball to Gonzalez for an open triple.