Boston Celtics Status Check:
Record: 15-13
Division: 4-2
Conference: 14-8
Road Record: 4-5
Last 10 Games: 6-4
Streak: Lost 1
Last game: 98-88 loss to Detroit
PPG: 90.1 (26th)
Opponents PPG: 87.1 (1st)
Offensive Rating: 101.5 (22nd)
Defensive Rating: 98.2 (3rd)
Pace: 88.4 (28th)
Effective Field Goal Percentage: .497 (9th)
Turnover Percentage: .154 (28th)
Defensive Rebound Percentage: .727 (21st)
Offensive Rebound Percentage: .226 (29th)
Free Throws Per Field Goal Attempt: .203 (17th)
Opp. eFG%: .447 (1st)
Opp. TO%: .145 (12th)
Opp. FT/FGA: .225 (20th)
Leading scorer: Paul Pierce (17.4)
Stats from Basketball-Reference
Boston Injury Report:
Brandon Bass: expected to miss 1-2 weeks
Kevin Garnett: missed Wednesday’s game against Detroit (hip flexor)
Sasha Pavlovic: missed Wednesday’s game against Detroit (sore wrist)
Overview:
Chicago has their first chance of the season to avenge a loss tonight when they welcome the Celtics to the United Center. Boston dealt the Bulls their most recent defeat on Sunday, and now Chicago gets the chance to prove what they have at home.
This one looks pretty similar to the last time out. The Bulls will probably be without their starting guards. Derrick Rose and Rip Hamilton will most likely miss their fourth and ninth games respectively. Rose is a game-time decision, but according to ESPN Chicago’s Nick Friedell, Rose didn’t sound optimistic.
The Celtics are once again coming off a game they probably shouldn’t have lost. Boston fell to Detroit last night by ten. Rajon Rondo continued his hot streak, scoring 35 points to go with five rebounds and six assists.
You surely remember Rondo had a triple-double against the Bulls. If the Bulls want to win they’ll have to slow down Rondo, who is averaging 19.2 points and 9.8 assists over his last five games.
Boston’s shooters were off against Detroit though. Paul Pierce shot 3-11 (ten points) and Ray Allen went 1-5 from the field. Allen did go 8-9 from the line to finish with ten points. The Celtics were without Kevin Garnett in the loss. Garnett sat out with a hip flexor. He could miss tonight’s game as well.
Another aspect that really hurt Boston was foul shots. Boston went 19-32 from the line (59.4 percent), while the Raptors went 24-29 (82.8 percent).
The Bulls didn’t look too great in their most recent outing either.
Normally the Bulls are great defensively at home, but their last time out Tuesday against the Kings, Chicago gave up 115 points. That translated to a 117.3 defensive rating.
But it wasn’t just defense. The Kings had 17 offensive rebounds (35.4 offensive rebounding rate), while Chicago only brought down nine.
Even after they played some porous defense and couldn’t box out against Sacramento, the Bulls are still only allowing 84.1 points per game at home and are holding opponents to 41.2 percent shooting.
Boston is giving up 94.9 points per game on the road, which is 12 points more than they give up at home. The Celtics are 4-5 this year away from the TD Garden.
Boston is 4-3 so far this season with no rest and is 5-7 after losses.
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